Portugal:Employer’s perception of remote work effects on mental health and stress

In Portugal, 48.5 % of companies perceive that remote work has advantageous effects on employees’ mental health and well-being. Only 11 % of companies indicate that they expect adverse effects instead, while 23 % of companies do not see a potential effect. No responses were given by 18 % of the companies.

The highest share of companies that perceive remote work as an advantage for employees’ mental health and well-being is observed in information and communication sector (65 %). This share ranges from 45 to 60 % in the remaining sectors.

Employers often see benificial effects of remote work on job-related stress among employees. In particular, 49 % of employers think that employees working remotely twice a week experience lower levels of job-related stress than employees working fully on-site. In contrast, only 8 % of companies indicate that employees’ job-related stress might be higher in case of remote work. The remaining 24 % of companies do not expect a link between remote work and job-related stress. Although the shares differ, the vast majority of companies in all industries expect benificial rather than detrimental effects of remote work on job-related stress.