2023 Volume 10 Pages 179-196
The COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant preventive measures worldwide have accelerated a change in the way millions of people work. Telework became necessary to prevent the spread of coronavirus and reduce office workers’ health risk. The change in employees’ workstyle may directly impact commuters’ travel behavior, which affects individuals’ residential area choices and companies’ office location choices, ultimately affecting urban development and transportation infrastructures. This research aims to investigate preferences for telework among Japanese employees and, in hybrid workstyles, identify the factors that affect the best trade-off between commuting-based work and telework. A web-based questionnaire collected data which was analyzed using ordered probit modeling. Results revealed that 25% of non-telecommuters want to switch to telework and that the number of workers who want 100% telework increased from 4.9% to 8%. Regression analysis showed a strong influence of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics on the choice between commuting and ICT-based work. Results of this study make it possible to understand office workers’ intentions to work remotely and predict how this will affect economic activity distribution within urban areas. It is also possible to consider an actual case of the implementation of ICT infrastructure for specific segments of society.
