Smart Working (SW) refers to new ways of working integrated in a way that enables spatial and temporal autonomy, favor cultural exchanges and trust, enable technological advances, and allow wider intellectual connections. SW is seen to be a way to “modernize” working practices by using ICT applications and new organizational settings, so that flexibility, creativity, engagement and, also, satisfaction of workers can be improved, for the benefit of employees, companies, and societies. However, the literature shows that SW requires the adoption of specific measures and levers, to fully exploit its potential benefits and reduce the risk of refusal by workers. During the COVID pandemic, many companies, schools, and public organizations all around the world asked their employees to start working from home (WFH). After the pandemic, some observers think that WFH can remain a common way of working especially for knowledge workers. So, it is necessary to understand to what extent this experience can really lead to SW – in other words, to investigate if WHF can be automatically a “smart” working modality for knowledge workers. The goal of this paper is, therefore, to explore if keeping workers at home can be a first important step towards SW, or if there can be some barriers or possible sources of inefficiency. The “forced” condition caused by the pandemic provides a unique opportunity to investigate what can happen when entire offices move to WFH. The paper reports the results of an online survey of WFH knowledge workers conducted in Italy during the first weeks of the lockdown (April and May 2020). The research provided some descriptive statistics and classifications, especially regarding the viewpoint of employees. Their real involvement and perception of usefulness of WFH was investigated. The data made it possible to analyse the potential points of strength and weakness of WFH, how a massive introduction of WFH can be seen as a really “smart” working modality for this elective category of employees, and what lessons can be drawn for work management.
