EXPLORING REMOTE WORK: A STUDY ON THE PERCEPTION OF CENTENNIAL GENERATION

Remote work has been widely adopted by organizations. In this context, this study aimed to answer several questions regarding the adaptation of centennials (born after 1995) to this type of work. It is in this generation that companies seek talent to meet skill needs (creativity, innovation, leadership). This is an exploratory study that began with a literature review, followed by the application of a questionnaire created in the Google Forms© tool. The forms were sent to students in the Administration course at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP) via email and WhatsApp, resulting in seventy-four valid responses. The sampling of responding students was obtained through the technique known as snowball sampling. Only 28.2% stated that their productivity improved when working remotely, something that can be justified by distractions with smartphones and social networks. Another important issue was related to the time that Centennials gained in their routines, considering, for example, that they did not waste time commuting to work. In this aspect, 33.80% (24) stated that they used their time very well, 21.13% (15) used it well ("Using time well," in this context, refers to the effective utilization of time for value-generating activities, such as spending time with family, engaging in physical exercise, reading etc.). Remote work has value among centennials because it provides them with autonomy and free time. The study warns that a generation is just a generalization and that organizations will need to strive to understand that generation to get more productivity from it. The limitation of the study lies in the small number of respondents and the homogeneity of the sample; however, it does not invalidate the results and suggests the need for further studies aimed at better understanding this generation.


INTRODUCTION
Technology, from the popularization of personal computers to the advent and advancement of smartphones, has profoundly influenced the way we communicate, consume, travel, relate to one another, and, how we work.Telecommuting, work that can be done remotely, either from home or any location with an internet connection, has been increasingly adopted by companies.This is driven both by the desire of employees, who gain more flexibility, and by the convenience for the companies themselves, which can reduce costs related to materials and services, as well as avoid office rental expenses.The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in Brazil in mid-February 2020, has radically changed the perception of this remote modality of work, since it ceased to be an option to become an obligation.Due to social isolation measures, many businesses closed doors because they could not adapt or because their sector indeed could not function with social isolation, e.g., the tourism sector.Adaptation was demanded not only from companies but also from workers, with various protection measures or with the adoption of remote work (Melo, 2018).
In this context and considering the existence of different generations living in the same work environment, several questions arise in relation to the adaptation to this modality of work.In this way, the study of generations, especially the most recent one, the so-called centennials, or generation Z, can help understand the different perceptions that workers have of this work configuration, which is why, in this study, this generation was chosen because it is less researched and known, although being the one that is transforming the world.
There are several relevant characteristics of centennials that need to be addressed, as mentioned by various authors.They are born connected, spend many hours with their smartphones, have less physical contact with others, and show immaturity when entering the job market.These characteristics are likely to strongly influence their perceptions of telecommuting (Oliveira, 2017;Twenge, 2018).
Centennials, popularly known as Generation Z, have attracted much attention lately, especially as the first members are finishing college and entering the workforce.Furthermore, the radical changes in their behavior compared to other generations, resulting from technological advances in communication and interaction, highlight the need to study them.They will be the future representatives of various aspects of society, industry, and consumption.
The study of generations is crucial as it provides a panoramic view of the economic, technological, social, and political events that marked people's lives, shaping them, and creating behavior paradigms.Companies can analyze these paradigms to study consumption trends and manage people more effectively by understanding and aligning their expectations with organizational cultures.
Moreover, centennials have been relatively understudied, especially in Brazil, as they have only recently entered the job market.Importantly, just as researchers used studies on other generations conducted when they were young to compare with the youth of more recent generations, present research on centennials will serve as future reference (Lopes et al., 2019;Araújo and Ribeiro, 2022;Vásquez, 2021).
Furthermore, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought new perspectives regarding remote work, yet its adoption faces challenges and uncertainties about its future.Given the aforementioned points, the general objective of this research was to identify centennials' perceptions of telecommuting.The specific objectives include identifying potential difficulties these workers face, understanding reasons negatively impacting the adoption of remote work, and assessing any gains achieved.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Most of the studies on centennials are North American, in the area of marketing, and related to the consumption habits of this generation, so there is some difficulty in finding a consensus or pattern among authors about what defines this generation, because each of them tends to use different nomenclatures and periods for this generation (Shukla et al., 2019;Housand, 2021).
Just before the pandemic, Grubb (2018, p. 39) stated that this generation was so young that only recently experts were "including it in their demographic analyses", and that several names had been proposed for this group, such as nexters, homeland generation, iGeneration, post-millennials, generation Z, etc.
The definition of a generation includes not only the age of its members, but also where they live, their culture, their social and material issues.Although, due to these reasons, it is possible to have members of the same generation with isolated characteristics, the analysis of a generation occurs by identifying common aspects that its members have.
The generation of centennials was born precisely in the period of digital popularization at the end of the 1990s, but it is even more marked by the appearance of the iPhone in 2007, which led to the popularization of smartphones a few years later.Twenge (2018, p.11) describes that: "[...] they grew up with cell phones, already had an Instagram page before entering high school and cannot imagine what life was like before the internet".As a result, they tend to have few in-person social relationships and this is a cause for concern, as the same author (2018, p. 90) says that: "[...] the big question is whether the decline in-person social interaction will make IGen (centennials) have fewer social skills.Some preliminary evidence suggests so."Twenge (2018, p. 5) asserts that "the behavioral traits of each generation are directly linked to the material and symbolic elements that constitute the sphere of meaning, practices, expectations, and affections of these young people," and Grubb (2018, p. 26) defines a generation as "identifiable groups that have in common birth years, age, location, and significant life events at critical stages of development." Therefore, a centennial living in the United States, for example, may have different characteristics from one living in an underdeveloped eastern country.However, something that almost completely shapes the behavior of this generation is the popularization of smartphones, and according to the GSMA's 2019 Mobile Economy report, about 5.1 billion people were already using mobile phones by 2018.
Consequently, there may be subtle differences in the definitions of each author regarding the birth date and certain characteristics of the generations, as well as the name given to each of them.It is common to observe generations being popularly named as Baby Boomers, X, Y, and Z.However, it is also possible to observe those of generation X being named as millennials and those of generation Z as centennials, or Igen.Regardless of the nomenclature, what is important for this study are the young people who are currently finishing their studies and entering the job market, and this range more accurately encompasses young centennials.
Although authors typically consider the Centennials generation to have started in 1995, coinciding with the digital popularization of the time, it is important to consider the differences among nations in their social, political, economic, cultural, and technological contexts.While a significant digital popularization occurred globally from 1995, in Brazil, this happened a few years later, along with the widespread use of smartphones in the adolescence of these young people around 2010.Therefore, it is estimated that the Centennials generation begins with those born from 1995 onwards here, but this is only a hypothesis (Twenge, 2018;Emmanuel, 2020).
According to the research "Millennials: Unraveling the Habits of Generation Y in Brazil" (Trotta et al., 2019), the number of Centennials in Brazilconsidered in the study as those born between 1999 and 2019was around 51 million, representing 24% of the population.These young people are just starting to enter the job market and accounted for about 1.6% of Brazilian workers; however, the research projects that by 2030, they will represent 6% (Trotta et al., 2019).
It is a fact that the job market is constantly changing and evolving.Technology is the essential agent of these changes, and it is necessary to be always studying and following the trends that it imposes on us.Flippin (2017, p. 6) presents some of them, which are fundamental for understanding the context in which centennials begin to insert themselves and Baby Boomers begin to leave it.They are: a) Uberization: today applications generate jobs; however, although it seems contradictory, jobs are generated without employment ties.Basically, companies pay only for the hours that are actually worked, causing idleness to reduce wages, in addition to the absence of benefit packages; b) Increase in hiring: it is currently possible to hire people without them even appearing at the office at all, and the home office modality has eliminated the boundaries of the labor market, and companies can easily hire people from other states or even countries; c) Millennials (generation Y) on the rise in business management; d) Technology positively impacting productivity, but also negatively by generating distractions.
From the analysis of studies carried out on centennials in the labor market, the authors usually conclude that this generation demonstrates immaturity, lack of communication skills, psychological problems more often than other generations, search for companies that promote inclusion and diversity, lack of clarity in the type of work they want to do and search for positions that promote security (Flippin, 2017;Twenge, 2018;Schroth, 2019).
They are young people who are growing up slowly, go out less without their parents, spend less time at home without them, and, moreover, tend to enter the job market later than other generations.They also usually do not manage their own money well and turn to their parents when they want something.Screen time is another key aspect for this generation.They spend hours typing messages on their phones, accessing social networks, playing video games, and engaging in video chats (Twenge, 2018).Flippin (2017, p. 6) states that for Centennials: "There has never been a time when social media did not exist, and they view life through their smartphones, sharing music, photos, news, and opinions as easily as eating and breathing.Their ability to process vast amounts of information is considerable".
Depression and anxiety, more than any other generation, have directly affected Centennials.Despite social media aiming to bring people together, even those with whom one has not had contact for a long time, they are leading to a sense of loneliness.Emmanuel (2020, p. 25) warns that if virtual interaction is as satisfying and efficient as in-person interaction, "factors related to happiness should be the same, but what we can see are higher rates of unhappiness and loneliness that are automatically linked to the depression of teenagers who do not have good faceto-face interaction." Despite other authors believing that the time Centennials spend in front of computer and smartphone screens has contributed to them developing fewer in-person communication skills, Salomão (2018, p. 24) says: "a point of evolution between Generation Z and Y is the ability to expose themselves in front of cameras.They have already grown up with virtual resources such as videos, streaming, and internet channels that have developed their inperson communication skills, which, for young people of Generation Y, is still a problem, as they grew up in the era of text messages." The Millennial and Gen Z Survey 2021, conducted by Deloitte (2021) with around 8,200 Centennials from 45 countries, pointed out that due to the pandemic, 47% of them claimed to be anxious most of the time, 35% had stopped working at some point due to stress and anxiety, and about 4 in 10 stated that their supervisors have not taken steps to help them with mental well-being.According to Oliveira (2014, p. 148): "There are very negative effects when this anxious behavior occurs in a professional's career because, in addition to greatly reducing opportunities for real development through deep and sedimented experiences, what happens is the collision of expectations with the consequent superficial development".
People of this generation, by spending hours on their smartphones, become completely immersed in social bubbles, in a parallel world where everything needs to be perfect, and all their actions can be judged or "canceled" at any moment.Still considered something quite recent, the "cancel culture" consists of attacking a person who, in their virtual social space, has taken actions and positions judged as incorrect by their followers or non-followers, as everything today is disseminated in a matter of moments.According to Emmanuel (2020, p. 22), "cancellation is a wave or a joining of people who attack others for not agreeing with a particular individual's actions, in order to assault them because of certain 'wrong' conduct exercised by the victim." Vilchez and Coelho (2020) report that: "Beyond a mere judgment made by social media users, cancellation highlights the spectacularization of life in virtual media, both on the part of the public figure and by their followers."It is evident that such a practice not only affects this generation, but because its members spend more hours on social media, they are the most susceptible to suffering from these attacks and, therefore, become anxious about the public's response to everything they post or have posted, as everything is recorded on the network.
Not only the fear of being canceled afflicts Centennials on social media, but also the mere fact of losing followers or virtual friendships, simply because they have an opinion, a style of dressing, or even a way of communicating different from what their followers find suitable.This causes these young people to live in "social bubbles," creating distance from dialogue and differences (Pellizzari and Barreto Junior, 2019).Twenge (2018, p. 156) cites studies conducted with Centennials on American university campuses and points out that these young people, constantly seeking a sense of security, "avoid discussions and often turn to third parties to resolve their conflicts, as if they were seeking protection from their parents."This concern of Centennials RISUS -Journal on Innovation and Sustainability, São Paulo, v. 15, n. 1, p. 123-132, fev./mar.2024 -ISSN 2179-3565 with emotional security includes avoiding bad experiences, potentially uncomfortable situations, and people with ideas different from theirs.
According to the author, this generation has positive characteristics, such as being much less prejudiced regarding sexuality, race, and gender, being more careful in traffic, and starting to consume alcoholic beverages later.The immediacy and great ease of access to online information benefit the learning and knowledge of this generation, but not always the information is true and verified.Therefore, they need to always be alert against fake news.Moreover, they also tend to start their sexual lives later than other generations, as well as being much less religious.These characteristics, although part of Centennials, are not very relevant to this study.
Regarding remote work, Silva (2000, p. 584) states that it is the activity of the worker "developed wholly or partially in places far from the main headquarters of the company, in a telematic way".Totally or partially, because remote work is carried out partly at the company's headquarters and partly in distant locations.
Although the definition presented above is from the beginning of this century, it still applies today.However, several changes have occurred regarding telecommuting in relation to the perception of employees and organizations, as they have recognized the advantages that this modality provides.Technological advances were essential to make telecommuting even closer to the experience of working in a physical office.Video calls and instant messaging apps and software, as well as the ease of data transfer, have strengthened working relationships, regardless of distance (Fernandes, 2018).
In addition, changes needed to occur regarding the regulation of this modality.In Brazil, the regulation of telecommuting took place on November 17, 2017, with labor reform.With it, issues such as the requirement to formalize the modality in employment contracts, the responsibility for costs (materials, equipment, internet) that must be duly expressed in the contract, the control of the teleworker's working hours, which can be monitored by the company through computerized means to verify if the service is being fulfilled, as well as ergonomic and workplace environmental issues were addressed (Pacheco and Deste, 2021).
Among the advantages of remote work for companies, Melo (2018, p. 19) mentions, mainly, the "reduction of costs with materials, rental of workplaces, maintenance, transportation, in addition to advantages inherent to worker productivity", by a reduction in absenteeism, greater motivation and satisfaction with the job and less wasted time with transportation.He goes further and concludes that the advantages "[...] go beyond the boundaries of the subjects themselves, encompassing the environment and society in general.Remote work reducing the use of transport, for example, reduces pollution and even traffic congestion."Some authors are optimistic about this generation working remotely, among them Abreu, Eisenstein Estefenon (2013).
From the worker's perspective, the main advantage is the flexibility of working hours, to better reconcile work and personal life, not to mention the gain in time that was spent on commuting.Additionally, he has more time to prepare his own meals, instead of fast-food options often adhered to due to lack of time.Remote work has also opened doors for people who previously had difficulty getting into the job market, such as older people, the physically disabled and prisoners (Barros, 2016).
The exaggerated use of the internet can generate anguish, anxiety, and nervousness, serving as a trigger for depression, since it can cause a feeling of inferiority when these young people compare their lives with the "perfect" lives of others shown on social networks.They are young people who are often looking for approval with likes on the networks and, when this does not happen as they want, they can spend the rest of the day in melancholy.It is something that can affect academic and work performance, resulting from low self-esteem, anxiety, loneliness, insomnia, attention deficit and so on (Emmanuel, 2020), that is why this study is so relevant in the current context in which centennials are increasingly present in the job market, where remote work is also beginning to predominate for office workers.

METHODOLOGY
This is an exploratory study because, as Gil (2022, p. 44) describes this type of research, it "aims to create greater familiarity with the problem and raise hypotheses".Thus, this study began with a bibliographical survey and, after deepening the knowledge about the research problem and establishing the hypotheses, they were verified through a survey that, as defined by Lakatos and Marconi (2021, p. 185), consists of data collection through a questionnaire.
The survey, whose questionnaires were prepared using the Google Forms© tool, was based on information obtained in the first stage of research.The questionnaire was sent to students of the Business Management course at a large confessional university in São Paulo, the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo -PUC-SP), by email and WhatsApp.
The questionnaire was elaborated with closed questions using the Likert scaling, which later had its answers quantified.As Lakatos and Marconi (2021, p. 204) state, although the closed questionnaire restricts the freedom of responses, it facilitates the researcher's work and its tabulation.
In addition, Likert scaling employes degrees of intensity to extract a judgment from the respondent, which may have increasing or decreasing intensity, which are easily quantified and tabulated, and allows a depth similar to an open questionnaire.For the answers, the Likert scale available was of five points, with 1 being the lowest degree and 5 being the highest.
There were 74 students belonging to the centennial generation (born after 1995) who had already worked or were working remotely at the time of the research and who were willing to answer the questionnaires free willingly, indicating this option in the Free and Informed Consent Form (Termo de Consentimento Livre e Esclarecido -TCLE) in the electronic questionnaire.Because it is a survey (public opinion survey with unidentified participants), there was no need to submit the research to the Research Ethics Committee of the University, as authorized by Resolution 510/2016 (Brasil, 2016).Of the total number of questionnaires answered, 71 were considered valid, with 38 female respondents (53.5%) and 33 male respondents (46.5%).

RESULTS
In this topic, percentages and absolute amounts of respondents are presented in parentheses.As for the adaptation of centennials to remote work, the vast majority claimed to have adapted well to home office, obtaining the following results for agreement with the statement "I have adapted to remote work": I totally agree 54.93% (39); agree 30.99% (22); undecided 7.04% (5); disagree 5.63% (4) and strongly disagree 1.41% (1).
Despite this, the adaptation also faced problems, the main one being the issue of comfort and ergonomics (inadequate table height, chair, and lighting) being indicated by 53.52% (38) of the respondents.It is also worth mentioning the difficulty with the new routine and the lack of a space dedicated only to work, pointed out by 49.30% (35) of the respondents.The following problems followed: lack of adequate space at home 42.25% (30); connection and internet 32.39% (23) and, lastly, problems with the equipment (computer, mouse, keyboard, etc.) indicated by 29.58% (21).It is important to note that in this question, respondents could indicate as many alternatives as they deem appropriate.
As for productivity at work, 46.5% (33) of the respondents stated that they had not increased their productivity in the modality, while only 28.2% (20) indicated that they had become more productive.The rest, 25.4% (18), had already started their career in home office and, therefore, had no reference to make the comparison.In addition, it is important to highlight that 75% (54) of these respondents considered that they had autonomy in their work.
Centennials spend a lot of time using their smartphones and social networks, which can be even more distracting when working remotely, as they are not always monitored and become more responsible for managing their tasks at work.This may explain the low number of centennials with increased productivity.In fact, 62% (44) of respondents reported spending time on social networks very often, and 23.94% (17) frequently, with 7.04% (5) responding only occasionally, 1.41% (1) rarely, and 5.63% (4) never.
Regarding the level of distraction at home office caused by the use of smartphones in remote work, respondents considered a very high level 43.66% (31), high 15.49% (11), medium 22.54% ( 16), low 15.49% (11) and very low 1.41% (1).Another issue, which was also raised from the theoretical framework, was that centennials are often worried about the repercussion of their publications on social networks, it is the concern with the likes, i.e., the need for acceptance.However, only 5.63% (4) of respondents said they care a lot about their posts, 16.90% (12) care, 28.17% (20) care reasonably, 16.90% (12) care little, and 32.39% (23) said they did not care at all.
Regarding the psychological problems suffered by centennials when telecommuting during the pandemic, 69% (49) reported suffering from at least one problem.Among the psychological problems that stood out the most were, respectively, anxiety attacks suffered by 46.5% (33) of the respondents, low self-esteem by 39% (28), insomnia by 28.17% (20), attention deficit by 22.54% ( 16), and depression by 9.86% (7) of respondents.Of these respondents, 26.8% (13) already suffered from some of the problems, and they got worse with the impositions of the pandemic, even in remote work.
To measure the discomfort of centennials with some of the inconveniences brought about by work, a Likert scale with five degrees was also used, ranging from 1 -No discomfort to 5 -Very uncomfortable, as shown in Table 1.Regarding the lack of in-person interaction at work as a result of remote work, most centennials 52% (37) reported feeling very affected, but in relation to privacy in remote work, respondents did not show much concern, as 60.56% (43) of respondents reported that in relation to privacy there was little or no inconvenience in remote work.Also, as shown in Table 1, only 8.45% (6) of the respondents thought that the lack of privacy caused a lot of discomfort.In addition, the respondents demonstrated that they felt comfortable using the camera in meetings, because only 15.49% (11) of the respondents indicated that they felt very uncomfortable, and 8.45% (6) that they felt uncomfortable using the camera.Another important issue was related to the time that centennials gained in their routines, since, for example, they did not waste time commuting to work.In this regard, 33.80% (24) said they use their time very well, 21.13% (15) use it well, 19.72% (14) reasonably well, 15.49% (11) poorly, and 9.86% (7) very poorly."Using time well," in this context, refers to the effective utilization of time for value-generating activities, such as spending time with family, engaging in physical exercise, reading etc.
When asked whether they would like to remain in remote work after the end of the pandemic, 81.69% (58) of respondents preferred the hybrid modality, 14.08% (10) the totally remote, and 11% (7) the face-to-face, a result that justifies considering that they missed the in-person interaction at work.Asking centennials directly was extremely important to understand how they, who have recently started to enter the job market, adopted, and adapted to remote work, its difficulties, and possible solutions.In fact, telecommuting has its value among centennials, either by providing them with more autonomy in their routines or by generating more extra time that would be lost commuting to work, besides their easiness when handling digital technologies.
However, telecommuting also has its disadvantages, the main one being the lack of face-to-face interaction, which the survey showed to be of great importance to centennials, which is why most of them still prefer to continue working face-to-face at least a few days a week.
Furthermore, only 28.2% of centennials stated that their productivity improved when working remotely, something that can be justified by the high number of centennials who are distracted by their smartphones and social networks while working remotely, especially when suffering from anxiety attacks and low self-esteem, considering the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic that further generated or intensified their psychological problems.

CONCLUSION
Despite the results, it is necessary to consider that the research was carried out in a period in which remote work was adopted very suddenly and in a period of many concerns and emotional vulnerability for everyone.Such a combination of factors may have contributed to a more arduous adoption of the modality, and which may, as it becomes something more optional than mandatory (due to the pandemic), have an increasingly positive impact on people and organizations.
The condition of working in a mixed modality in the future seems to be the best solution both for organizations, which will be able to continue reducing costs, and for workers, who will continue to benefit from the modality with gains in time and autonomy, without losing the face-to-face interaction in work that will be partially maintained.In this way, the worker himself will have a full notion of his performance in the office and at home, becoming aware of the actions he must take to make both modalities more productive as remote work becomes something more and more common not only for the employee, but for his family, friends and neighbors who become even more part of the teleworker's professional sphere.
Comparing the results of this survey with surveys carried out with other generations could bring an even deeper analysis of the impacts of remote work and the pandemic.Studies on generational behavior are important mainly for organizations, which deal with increasingly diverse and dynamic environments, but also because they consider all the cultural, material, social and economic aspects in which generations are inserted, as a way of find justifications for their paradigms.
A weak analogy between generations in everyday conversation, without considering such aspects, seems to deal with the issue in a much more negative way than it should, where on the one hand, previous generations have the perspective that centennials are an inferior generation, "lost" and unprepared, without considering its progress in several other aspects, while living in a scenario technologically susceptible to infinite possibilities that other generations did not have.
On the other hand, there are centennials feeling increasingly pressured and anxious when comparing their lives to that of their parents when they were the same age, who lived in very different cultural contexts and, therefore, became independent faster.
Inevitably, there is a pertinent paradox.As life expectancy increases, more centennials are experiencing personal and professional anxiety.Finally, while they should be living their lives in a more relaxed way, exploring their discoveries and talents, they are suffocated by their own expectations and difficulties to find a path among so many possibilities.
Finally, the limitation of the small sample of this study and the restriction of containing only students from the same university are recognized, however, this does not invalidate the research, nevertheless, it is recommended to carry out more studies in order to better understand this generation entering the job market, which will soon be the majority in organizations.