1. Key Policy Questions and related issues:
How can policymakers ensure that any broad movement toward telework incorporate serious considerations and mitigation efforts relative to the inequalities that this development will likely exacerbate?
What are the discrete ways in which internet governance will need to evolve to keep pace with, push back on, or shape evolving norms in digital workspaces?
What types of technical solutions will need to be adopted in order to facilitate a safe and secure virtual workforce? For example, what role should encryption play as more sensitive materials traverse networks?
2. Summary of Issues Discussed:
- During teleworking, the boundary between the personal and professional is increasingly blurred. Panelists agreed that employers ought to be resonsible for setting new norms at the "virtual" workplace to decrease instances of burnout. Gender norms are also an important part of the discussion as work enters the home -- if women, especially in the global south, are expected to retain traditional roles in the home, employers should take note of this.
- Panelists agreed that internet connectivity remains a major challenge, especially in the global south, but certainly not limited to the global south. Lack of internet connectivity can prevent some workers from gaining flexible work arrangements that can take them out of harm's way in a pandemic setting.
- The benefits of a shift to telework are not going to be shared equally. Teleworking arrangements are far more available for knowledge, creative, and otherwise digital workers compared to service sector or manual workers. While there is an element of "digital upskilling" that employers and governments ought to be responsible for in order to bring more workers into the digital economy, it is not realistic to expect this to apply broadly. Governments need to ensure that service sector employees are protected during the pandemic, even if they cannot work from home.
7. Reflection to Gender Issues:
The panel discussed how gender norms intersect with the blurring boundary between the personal and professional as work shifts to the home environment. Helani raised that women, especially in the global south, are expected to retain traditional roles in the home, while still being expected to produce at the same levels as their male counterparts. This is a phenomenon that cuts across class and sectors of employment. The productivity expectations of employers must change if the entire workforce (male and female) is home if female workers are saddled with the same traditional responsibilities.