Exploring Employee Perceptions Towards Smart Working During the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Comparative Analysis of Two Italian Public Research Organizations

Of all the socio-economic changes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the disruption to workforce organizations will probably leave the largest indelible mark. The way work will be organized in the future will be closely linked to the experience of working under the same institution’s response to the pandemic. This paper aims to fill the gap in knowledge about smart working (SW) in public organizations, with a focus on the experience of the employees of two Italian research organizations, CNR and INGV. Analysing primary data, it explored and assessed how SW had been experienced following the implementation of governmental measures aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19.