Job teleworkability and labour outcomes in the time of COVID-19: evidence from Russia

Purpose This study investigates the effect of teleworkability on labour outcomes across gender, local labour markets, education, marital and parental statuses during COVID-19 in Russia. Design/methodology/approach Based on the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS-HSE), three classifications of telework are tested. Telework is associated with (1) work from home, (2) workplace digitalisation and (3) the suitability of professional occupations for telework. The methodology includes a difference-in-differences approach combined with propensity score matching, inverse probability weighted regression adjustment and dose-response function with the generalised propensity score. Findings We find a positive effect of teleworkability on working hours for men and employment status for women, especially women with higher education. The effect of teleworkability was more salient in large labour markets, where it manifested in an increase in working hours for both genders. The results indicate that parental status did not remarkably affect the magnitude of the effect of teleworkability for women. However, for fathers, teleworkability was associated with an increase in working hours. Research limitations/implications Limited data did not enable an exploration of the effect of teleworkability across industries and professional occupations. We take the use of the Internet for work in 2019 and the suitability of occupation for telework as a measure of teleworkability. Originality/value This is the first thorough analysis of the effect of telework on labour outcomes for the Russian economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.