From Presence to Flexibility: Remote Work and the Transformation of Workplace Culture in Icelandic Companies

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the implementation of remote work in the Icelandic labour market and created a rare opportunity to examine how deeply rooted cultures of physical workplace presence within organizations were reshaped. The aim of this study is to address the question of how managers in Icelandic companies experienced and responded to changes in work arrangements, management practices, and workplace culture following the expansion of remote work. The study is based on a qualitative research design involving semi-structured interviews with eight managers from diverse industries who had direct experience of implementing remote work after COVID-19. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that the expansion of remote work was not merely a change in where work was performed, but a broader organizational and cultural transformation. Companies moved from work environments in which presence, visibility, and day-to-day accessibility had functioned as taken-for-granted norms toward work arrangements requiring greater flexibility, clearer procedures, and more deliberate communication practices. The findings further show that managers were required to reshape their management approach from presence-based supervision toward increased trust, more systematic follow-up, and clearer distributions of responsibility, albeit marked by a persistent tension between employee autonomy and managerial oversight. In addition, hybrid work arrangements appear to have become the most likely future model, although they remain an evolving organizational balancing act rather than a fully stabilized norm. The theoretical contribution of the study lies in demonstrating how remote work emerges in managerial experience as an intertwined cultural and managerial transformation rather than merely a technical adjustment. The study thus deepens understanding of how organizations renegotiate presence, responsibility, communication, and social cohesion as flexible work practices become a permanent part of organizational life. Its practical contribution lies in highlighting that the successful implementation of flexible work arrangements requires clear structures for responsibility, communication, information flow, and social cohesion in order to maintain a balance between productivity and employee well-being.