A keen runner, Ebay senior quality assurance and compliance operations analyst Pia Raves would sometimes be up at 5a.m. to get in a jog before work. That was before the lockdown, when she had a 1.5-hour commute by train, foot and bus from her home in a Trier apartment to her office in boulevard Royal. Sometimes she’d walk between her office and the station to help disconnect from work.

But since 16 March, Raves has teleworked uninterrupted from home, a situation that is set to continue until the end of the year, when the current cross-border fiscal agreements expire. Today, her commute has been reduced to mere steps giving her more time to run without the early starts. “In the morning I spend this time sleeping now. I feel that I’m way more balanced,” she told Delano in September.

Colleagues

Besides missing the social interaction with colleagues, teleworking makes communication trickier. “The small things that you would discuss over coffee with a manager […] or when someone passes by your desk to ask small questions. Now you have to send someone a message, you have to interrupt them,” she lamented. And it doesn’t help that Raves has some colleagues she has not met--as they were recruited during the teleworking period. She said: “It’s harder to keep up with colleagues I don’t meet on a regular basis. Back in the office it would definitely be easier.”

Workplace

Since much of Raves’ work involves talking with colleagues in the US and Asia, she was no stranger to video conferencing platforms. When it became clear that teleworking would be a long-term arrangement, she took her office equipment home, setting up shop in the kitchen, from where she has a pleasant view of her building’s shared garden. Raves was not alone in the first months--her partner worked out of the spare room and very quickly it became clear they would have to upgrade their internet package. “Before that I was kicked out of meetings a lot. Now it’s not a problem,” she said.

Before her partner returned to his workplace, the two would also punctuate the day with a coffee break together before going back to emails.

Workflow

If she would log off at 5 p.m. before lockdown, Raves said that now she’ll log back in for a late call once a week. “I expect it as my duty, but no one asks this of me,” she said, adding that often she’ll take a longer lunch break if she knows she’ll be working late.

To support workers during this time, Ebay offers an employee assistance hotline 24 hours a day, seven days a week and mental health first aid training. Employees have also organised workout sessions via Zoom and management recently offered staff a bonus day off in recognition of their engagement while working from home. “I feel really recognised,” Raves said.

Read the entire “Happy to be back in the office?” series online or in the Delano October/November 2020 magazine