Global Journal of Management and Business Research, A: Administration and Management, Volume 22 Issue 4

home policy were enjoyable. We can rightfully say that different companies perceived work from home approaches differently and strived to adapt (Karmaker, 2020). Knowing that many companies in Bangladesh actively adopted the work from the home policy during the months of the pandemic, it is natural to be curious about the aftermath of adopting these policies and how they would affect work-life balance and employee preferences post-pandemic stage. The two selected sectors for this study are the telecommunications and the fast-moving consumer goods sectors. Telecommunication companies operate by a band of engineers, salespeople, customer service people, and installers. Besides this, most of the functions of a telecommunication company are based on technologies, including servers, networks, etc. Therefore, it is natural that these companies would be inclined toward work from home policies during the pandemic to keep themselves functional. On the other hand, even though fast-moving consumer goods companies operate factories and maintain supply and distribution channels, they still employ many people in research, management, and marketing positions. These jobs were shifted to home offices during the pandemic to prevent contamination. These professionals from the mentioned two sectors could be interviewed, providing insight into the work dynamics during the pandemic. Companies have strived to adapt to new working policies during the pandemic in their ways. All that being said, working from home substantially affects employee life and preference, the variables being productivity, motivation, work-life balance, etc. The study aims to understand whether work from home is as good as we think it to be. The paper will explore the potential positive and negative impacts of working from home. The main issue of the effect will be the work-life balance of employees. Finally, the paper will also establish the work policy that employees believe gives them the best work-life balance. II. L iterature R eview Working from home is a burning topic in the current business world. Its benefits are vast, and its impacts are far-reaching. The study explores the impact of work from home (WFH) on the work-life balance of professionals working in two of the most active business sectors- Telecommunications and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods, focusing on maintaining work-life balance. Because of the desire for distant working environments, teleworking became popular in the early 1990s. Although work for home has existed in the operational policies of business organisations, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought it into the spotlight in recent years as a means of adapting to the changes in the work-life dynamics of the socially isolated workforce. Many scholars have explored topics centring on this widely-used working policy of working from home. It is a hot topic in today’s business world because of its diverse scopes and benefits. Work from home is the idea that encompasses a wide range of working methods, including information and communication technologies (ICTs) and a place other than a traditional office. Work from home can have a beneficial or harmful influence on an employee's work- life balance. Because work-life balance has a unique standard, namely a return to one's life values and priorities, this might have a variety of outcomes. For some people, working from home, for example, can improve the quality of their family ties. On the other hand, working from home might exacerbate the blurring of work-family boundaries, making it more difficult to keep work and family time distinct (Putri & Amran, 2021). Work-life balance is a comprehensive notion that entails establishing suitable priorities between work (career and ambition) and life (happiness, leisure, family, and spiritual growth) on the one hand and work (career and industry) on the other. As a result, a company that incorporates work-life balance into its employee work system can assist employees in achieving a level of balance between work and personal life outside of work, for employees to achieve self- motivation and welfare that allows them to perform various roles effectively and efficiently at work and home (Putri & Amran, 2021). There are many studies by researchers and scholars focusing on work from home and various aspects related to it and its impacts. Most studies focus on how work from home policies influence employee job satisfaction and expectations. This study compared whether this work policy impairs or improves job satisfaction and work-life balance. The methods applied to conduct this study consist of personal attributes, job features, skills, and employment properties assessed singly and in combination as blocks of impacts on job satisfaction and work-life balance. The slightest angle regression is used to choose the variables (Bellmann & Hübler, 2020). Some other articles focused on measuring job satisfaction between work-life balance and work stress. The various benefits of teleworking or remote working, such as increased job performance, lessening of work- family imbalance, reducing stress levels, and decreasing turnover intentions, have been explored, which are possible under support from peers and managerial levels. These studies have also identified the perceived side effects of working from home. Social isolation, reduction in motivation, and inability to establish boundaries between work and personal life are prime side effects. This study was conducted using a quantitative approach (Irawanto et al., 2021). Impact of Work from Home (WFH) on the Work-Life Balance of Professionals Working in the Telecommunications and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Sector: An Exploratory Study in Bangladesh 72 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XXII Issue IV Version I Year 2022 ( ) A © 2022 Global Journals