How Telework is Reshaping Work and Society in Switzerland

A comprehensive study of how telework is changing the workplace, the home, and society at large.

Telework has become one of the most significant transformations of work organization in contemporary societies. While remote work existed long before the COVID-19 pandemic, the health crisis accelerated its diffusion and established hybrid work arrangements as a lasting feature of many sectors of the economy. Switzerland provides a particularly relevant context for examining these developments due to the high prevalence of telework, the integrated nature of its labor market, and its linguistic, regional, and organizational diversity. Bringing together contributions from different disciplines, this volume explores how telework is reshaping work practices, social inequalities, organizational dynamics, and spatial arrangements. Moving beyond the dominant narrative of flexibility and autonomy, the chapters highlight the differentiated ways in which telework is experienced and organized across social groups, occupations, and institutions. They address a wide range of issues, including patterns and uses of remote work, unequal access to telework and its differentiated impacts on wellbeing and mobility, the transformation of professional relationships and teamwork, managerial challenges linked to hybrid work arrangements, and the reconfiguration of domestic and professional spaces. By combining empirical research and theoretical reflection, this book offers one of the first comprehensive overviews of Swiss research on telework and contributes to broader debates on the future of work by showing that telework is not merely a technical arrangement, but a socially and spatially embedded practice that is transforming organizations, everyday life, and contemporary society.