Effects of internal and external Covid-19 fear on the benefit of teleworking: an example from the Turkish finance sector

The Covid-19 virus, which caused an epidemic at the beginning of 2020, caused fear all over the world and left deep impacts on economic and social life. In this study, the relationship between the level of Covid-19 fear and the level of benefit, employees perceive from tele working is examined and it is investigated whether the demographic factors of the employees make a difference on the perceived benefit. The data obtained from the online survey conducted with 458 finance sector employees were analyzed by the CHAID method. The findings indicate that the level of Covid-19 fear of financial sector employees is high, and the perceived benefit of teleworking has increased the Covid-19 fear. However, it is understood that the rate of those who think the benefit of teleworking is high, is not visibly significant compared to those who think the benefits of teleworking is low. It has been observed that the perceived benefit of teleworking differs according to demographic characteristics, and it has been understood that there is not enough support for the permanence of tele-working. The findings of the paper have some implications the financial sector, policy makers and academics.