Items

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  2021-07-23

  Mental Health And Remote Work: Survey Reveals 80% Of Workers Would Quit Their Jobs For This

  Teleworkers during the pandemic have experienced mental health challenges. For some individuals, working from home during the pandemic has increased their anxiety and stress levels. They have found it difficult to unplug from work, work longer hours at home than they did in the office, and struggle with the lack of social interaction. This article discusses ways that employers can support their employees and address their mental health struggles.
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  2020-07-17

  Study reveals gender inequality in telecommuting

  This article discusses findings from the COVID Impact Survey conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. The data show gender inequality associated with working from home. The survey found that mothers working from home spend more time on housework and childcare than fathers working from home. Mothers also report increased levels of anxiety, loneliness, and depression.
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  2021-02-13

  Six Key Advantages and Disadvantages of Working from Home in Europe during COVID-19

  This article discusses an European study investigating individuals’ experience of working from home during the pandemic and the disadvantages and advantages of this work model. The advantages were a better work-life balance, improved work efficiency, and greater work control. The disadvantages were home office constraints, work uncertainties, and inadequate tools.
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  2021-03-21

  Working from home has its advantages, but employees miss their coworkers

  This article and accompanying video discuss what employees miss most in the new teleworking situations created by the pandemic and what aspects of this situation they hope to have addressed after the pandemic recedes. The lack of interaction and socializing with coworkers is viewed as the major disadvantage to teleworking for individuals in the survey cited.
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  2021-06-02

  Family Life During COVID-19

  The experience of how life changed during COVID-19 was a rather pleasant change of pace from how life had traditionally functioned. As soon as the pandemic happened and the transition to remote work and school took place I realized how little the amount of time was that we spent with the people we live with. Instead of heading out the door to an office before everyone was even awake everyday I was able to see me family every morning before we went off to our respective work spaces for school or work. Having three teenagers usually means kids disappear from the house but for the last year I have been home with them every day and it has made for relationships as close as when they were small children. My partner and I are able to see each other much more often and spend time together we never would have had outside of quarantine. While it appears the change to remote school will be going away my transition to working from home will be permanent for the foreseeable future. While I do find there are way more advantages than disadvantages for me in working from home it would definitely be better for the kids to be in physical school rather than distance learning. They will all be vaccinated by the fall and return to in person school leaving me home by myself during the day. While I am excited for many of the aspects of the eventual return to normalcy I will miss the time I had spending the days with my family. While I will miss the kids I sincerely doubt there will ever come a time where I look forward to going back to an office.
• 
  10/13/2020

  Cynthia Lopez Oral History, 2020/10/13

  An interview with Cynthia Lopez, a St. Mary's University employee in the Blume Library
• 
  2020-11-16

  Pandemic speeds up influx of remote workers to small cities

  This story, which also appears on NPR, talks about how smaller cities like Burlington, Vermont are experiencing an increase of new "remote workers". They're escaping the big cities for multiple factors, many exacerbated due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• 
  2020-03-24

  Shelter-in-Place University Email

  On March 23, 2020, Bexar County issued that there would be shelter-in-place ordnance effective at midnight on March 24th. The week leading up to this ordnance my supervisors and I began preparing to telework. This required adapting my workload to be performed remotely, and I would essentially have to re-learn the ordering process for items like eBooks. I work in the acquisitions department of the university’s library and since the semester was still going on it was essential that I continue to preform my duties in a timely manner. As a department we had to adapt our methods of communication, extend the amount of time allowed to preform duties, and do our best to maintain morale in an uncertain and often isolated environment. The purchasing of physical items for the library were put on hold and any pending orders would be received but remain unopened until staff was allowed to return.
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  2020-03-10

  Kids Crash BBC Reporter's News Segment. Ellen Degeneres Dissects the clip.

  This clip is SO funny! I've watched it many times now and it seems to just get funnier. The father, in early days of quarantine, is doing a news segment for BBC news. His toddler comes marching in with flair and gusto. Then his baby son scoots in using his walker. Then the mom flies in the door, grabs them, and yanks them back out.
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  2020-03-23

  The Onion Reports that Nation Close to Getting Videoconferencing Software to Work

  The Onion has been having a field day with the unbelievable times we are living through. They are doing a great job making fun of what is happening and our reaction to it. This article, written as we had to make an overnight change to working remotely and homeschooling, makes us laugh at how we struggled to get the videoconferencing software to work. People across America were all saying in union, "Can you hear me?" "Can you see me?" and "I don't know how to fix it."
• 
  2020-05-12

  Olive and Mabel Have a Company Meeting. Olive and Mable are Labradors

  During the Coronavirus period, people worked from their homes. Meetings were held via video chat which had its own set of problems--things such as getting the software to work, positioning the camera, looking presentable, keeping the kids and the pets under control, etc. Remote school had the same problems with the additional challenge of keeping the kids involved and learning. This is a funny look at those meetings. Youtube user MrAndrewCotter holds a business meeting with his two dogs, Mable and Olive.
• 
  2020-04-28

  How to Get Out of a Zoom Meeting Humorous

  During the quarantine period, most people worked remotely. Zoom was the name of the software most commonly used for meetings and schooling with everyone at different locations. This guy made a funny video about pretending his internet connection wasn't working. Of course, his technique wouldn't exactly work, but it's still funny to watch. The creator is Zach King who is a magician. You can check out his YouTube channel if you want.