Work Discomfort and Inequalities in Access to Remote Work: Evidence from a Post-Communist CEE Labour Market

The expansion of remote work has transformed labour market conditions across the developed world, yet access to home-based work remains unequally distributed along occupational, sectoral, regional, and organisational lines. Post-pandemic evidence on the persistence of these inequalities is particularly scarce in Central and Eastern European economies, where historically low remote work prevalence, manufacturing-intensive industrial structures, and pronounced regional disparities create a distinctive structural context. Drawing on primary survey data collected from 390 employees in Slovakia in 2025, this study pursues two interrelated empirical goals: to identify the factors predicting a mismatch between the structural feasibility of working from home and its actual availability to employees, and to examine the determinants of experienced work discomfort. Binary logistic regression, multiple linear regression, and a battery of group difference tests were employed across the two analytical strands. The results reveal a pronounced capital–periphery gradient in remote work access, with employees outside the capital city facing dramatically higher odds of mismatch, and identify organisational support as the most practically actionable determinant of work discomfort. Notably, experiencing a mismatch between remote work feasibility and access was not associated with higher discomfort, a finding that challenges assumptions common in the Western European literature and points to the moderating role of contextual expectations in post-communist labour markets. The findings offer directly applicable evidence for employers seeking to reduce work-related strain through targeted support measures, and for policymakers designing regulatory frameworks to promote equitable access to flexible work arrangements across regions and sectors.