Digital presenteeism

Digital presenteeism refers to the feeling some remote employees have that they must always be available and respond to emails and other communications from their employer, even if they are not feeling well, or it is after hours. The condition grew out of presenteeism, the idea that employees feel they must go to work even when they are sick. It also includes appearing as if they are productively working, even if their work requires them to spend time thinking or mentally preparing for work such as writing. Digital presenteeism increased as people turned to remote and virtual work in 2020 when COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home orders resulted in more remote workers. Experts say that just as sick people who come to work are less effective at their jobs, people who are experiencing digital presenteeism show a marked decrease in work effectiveness.

Background

The term presenteeism originated as a medical term to describe people who went to work even when they were sick or who worked such long hours that they were no longer effective at their jobs. The term was coined by British psychologist Cary L. Cooper, a professor at Manchester University, in the late 1990s. Cooper saw the condition as the opposite of absenteeism, which is when people stay home from work or school because of illness or some other reason. People experiencing presenteeism go to work even when they are so sick that they should be home resting and recovering.

In his 2018 book, Presenteeism: An Introduction to a Prevailing Global Phenomenon, co-authored with Maria Karanika-Murray, Cooper outlined the societal and workplace factors that contributed to presenteeism, as well as its risks and costs. The authors attributed the prevalence of presenteeism to the economic climate and an overall attitude in some countries that it is important to work harder and longer to get ahead in the workplace. They noted that unlike absenteeism, which employers can easily track to determine overall effects, presenteeism is almost impossible to track with any accuracy. People experiencing presenteeism are not intentionally trying to slack off at work; they are simply too sick to function at full capacity, yet feel for some reason that they need to be at work anyway. Presenteeism can occur with an acute illness, such as the flu, or with chronic illness, where the person feels symptoms most or all of the time. It can also happen because of employer policies, such as a lack of paid sick time or unsympathetic managers.

Cooper and Karanika-Murray also pointed out the risks and consequences of presenteeism. For the employer, they include reduced employee performance and productivity and the potential for accidents in some jobs. For employees, the consequences include decreased health, decreased job satisfaction, and the risk of injury. Both employers and employees can suffer financial consequences from presenteeism.

Overview

People sometimes think remote work, also known as working from home or telecommuting, is a modern phenomenon. The reality is people have worked from home for an employer since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when pieceworkers would assemble garments, artificial flowers, and other items at home. However, the addition of computer technology and the Internet beginning in the 1990s provided new ways of working from home. Technology allowed employees to have greater flexibility in their working conditions and hours. It also allowed new ways for employers to track production and contact employees. By the 2010s, when the Internet, interconnected computers, and cellphones became prevalent, experts were beginning to talk about a new condition: digital presenteeism.

Digital presenteeism refers to remote workers who feel that they have to be constantly available for work or to respond to their employer. Working remotely, especially when the employee works from home, can make it difficult to draw the line between work and personal time. This can be worsened by expectations held by the employer or by the employee.

Working remotely often means working outside the standard nine-to-five workday. This can be both a benefit and a detriment. While the employee has flexibility to set their own schedule, management employees do as well. Managers who use electronic communication such as texts, emails, messaging through a specialized platform used by the company’s workers, such as Slack, or phone calls and voice mail, can contact an employee around the clock. Often, they can also monitor the amount of time an employee is working on company devices as well. Employers or supervisors may develop the expectation that employees should respond urgently to any communication, regardless of the hour of the day.

The notifications from computers, cellphones, and other devices may also make the employee feel like they need to answer right away, even if they have already put in the required hours or are taking care of personal or family needs. They may also feel that because they can work from home, they cannot call off sick even if they are feeling so ill they would normally stay home in bed. Concerns about missing out on opportunities or falling behind in career progress can also drive people to digital presenteeism, making them work beyond normal hours.

Another area of concern in digital presenteeism comes from knowledge workers. These are people such as accountants, designers, engineers, architects, researchers, physicians and pharmacists, programmers, writers, and others whose main work involves manipulating information, solving problems, generating ideas, etc. Productivity is harder to measure in fields such as this and demands for round-the-clock availability and monitoring of work hours can be especially detrimental to their effectiveness.

The effects of digital presenteeism are similar to those of presenteeism. Employees who push work into personal time experience mental, emotional, and physical fatigue, much like they would from working while sick. Diminished productivity and a decline in work quality is likely. This is detrimental to both the employee and the employer and can have a financial impact on both.

Experts say that remote workers can take steps to avoid digital presenteeism. One way is creating boundaries by setting specific work hours, or at least setting a time after which notifications will be shut off until the next day. Scheduling regular breaks during working hours is also important. These should include several longer breaks and a few “microbreaks,” or short one- to two-minute respites during the day. Employers can help by creating a culture that limits the hours during which management will contact employees and allow employees to contact each other for work-related matters, encouraging breaks, and promoting the use of sick and vacation time as a way to maintain optimal employee efficiency.

Bibliography

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Darmody, Jenny. “Digital Presenteeism Is a Real Challenge in the New World of Work.” Silicon Republic, 12 Sept. 2022, www.siliconrepublic.com/careers/digital-presenteeism-remote-working. Accessed 28 Dec. 2024.

Granito, Frank. “Preseneteeism in the Digital Era.” Institute for Digital Transformation, 12 Feb. 2016, www.institutefordigitaltransformation.org/presenteeism-digital-era. Accessed 28 Dec. 2024.

Hayes, Julian, II. “The Rising Dark Side of Remote Work that CEOs Need to Pay Attention to.” Forbes, 25 May 2024, www.forbes.com/sites/julianhayesii/2024/03/25/the-rising-dark-side-of-remote-work-that-ceos-need-to-pay-attention-to. Accessed 28 Dec. 2024.

Karanika-Murray, Maria, and Cary L. Cooper. "Presenteeism: An Introduction to a Prevailing Global Phenomenon." Presenteeism at Work, edited by Cary L. Cooper and Luo Lu, Cambridge University Press, 2018, pp. 9-34. Cambridge Companions to Management.

Kenton, Will. “Presenteeism: What It Is and How It Works.” Investopedia, 19 Dec. 2024, www.investopedia.com/terms/p/presenteeism.asp. Accessed 28 Dec. 2024.

Lufkin, Bryan. “Why Presenteeism Wins Out over Productivity.” BBC, 7 June 2021, www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210604-why-presenteeism-always-wins-out-over-productivity. Accessed 28 Dec. 2024.

Peel, Abby. “Digital Presenteeism.” GOV.UK Blog, 27 Oct. 2020, digitalpeople.blog.gov.uk/2020/10/27/digital-presenteeism. Accessed 28 Dec. 2024.