Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic made remote working or working from home (WFH) the new way of working. It has significantly increased its application, becoming the only way to carry on activities for most of the organizations in many countries including Malaysia during the movement control order (MCO). The flexible work arrangements have actually already become a trend driven by technological advancement and cultural changes as more and more employees demand greater flexibility nowadays. However, most of the corporate companies concern about long-term working from home is a decrease in productivity. Thus, the research on working from home and its effectiveness is needed for different industries. This study aims to identify factors affecting remote working productivity among employees of higher education institutions in Sibu, Sarawak. The study focuses the direct effect of work environment at home, peer support, work satisfaction, and organizational support on remote working productivity. Quantitative research is used by developing survey questionnaires through Google Form. 82 valid responses were collected and analysed using Partial Least Squares – Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) and SPSS. The statistical results have demonstrated that working environment at home has a significant positive relationship with remote working productivity, while peer support, work satisfaction and organisation support have no significant relationship on remote working productivity among employees of higher education institutions in Sibu, Sarawak. The findings suggest that the management of higher education institutions should give greater emphasis on strengthening the workplace environment at home for those employees who work from home for better remote working productivity.