Implementation of remote working in the Latin-American construction industry

Abstract

The topic of remote working in the construction industry has gained traction in recent academic literature as a consequence of technological innovation and the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this research is to study how the Latin-American construction industry is adapting to the practise of teleworking by exploring the drivers, strategies and challenges behind its implementation. An inductive approach was taken to conduct and analyse 20 semi-structured interviews from employees and employers from Latin-American companies related to the construction sector. The impressions collected were grouped and discussed by themes, contrasting the findings with the existing literature and arriving to the following conclusions: • The COVID-19 pandemic has been the primary driver behind the implementation of telework in the Latin-American construction industry. • Remote working was implemented in the Latin-American construction sector primarily through the use of communication and data transmission tools, as well as employee training and support. • Latin-American construction companies are not using the equipment and software available to perform remote work to their maximum capacity. • Few companies in the Latin-American construction sector are applying change management principles to implement teleworking conditions. • The main challenges for implementing remote working in the Latin-American construction industry are social and mental obstacles, as well as technological limitations. Future research could use this investigation as support to find potential solutions to overcome the current barriers to telework implementation in Latin-America, as well as how to improve remote cooperation with the help of technology and the implied cost-benefit.