Agile working and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic

This chapter aims to shed light on well-being dimensions and on the implications of the implementation of agile working in the Italian Public Research Organisations (PROs). The empirical investigation is based on an original web-based survey administered during the COVID19 pandemic to researchers and technologists (R&Ts) of the CNR - the National Research Council of Italy - and INAF - the National Institute of Astrophysics. This study focuses on the main determinants of improvements and/or deteriorations of R&Ts' well-being. Does agile work favour the reconciliation between work and free/family time? Are there specific characteristics that influence the respondents' well-being? We combined quantitative and qualitative analyses to answer to these research questions, and we estimated a multinomial logistic model to identify the main determinants of perceived changes in R&Ts' work-family balance and qualitative methodology to obtain further insights on the perceived benefits and limits of agile working. Since well-being during agile working can be affected by personal, environmental, and organisational factors, the analysis of advantages and criticalities can help developing better strategies to implement agile working in the post-pandemic world.