The Impact of COVID-19 and Remote Work on Software Development in Thailand

TL;DR

This study empirically examines how COVID-19-induced remote work affected Thai software developers, revealing no significant changes in productivity or well-being, and highlighting both benefits and challenges unique to Thailand.

Contribution

It provides the first empirical analysis of COVID-19's impact on Thai software development, offering insights specific to a growing Asian software market.

Findings

No significant change in productivity before and after remote work

Developers experienced both benefits and challenges from remote work

Results are similar to global studies but with unique Thai-specific aspects

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the way of working, including software development. During the pandemic, software companies were forced to work remotely, and many companies have been using such work arrangements. There are prior studies showing the benefits and drawbacks of remote work in software development during COVID-19. However, there is no study that targets Thailand, one of the growing software markets in Asia, specifically. This paper performs an empirical study of the effects of COVID-19 on software development in Thailand. We surveyed 194 Thai software developers regarding the challenges and benefits they faced while working remotely during the COVID-19 period. The results show no statistically significant changes in the productivity and well-being of Thai software developers before and after working remotely due to the pandemic. The results show that software developers in Thailand both received benefits and faced challenges from remote work during COVID-19, similar to results reported by other studies, but with some unique differences. This study can be beneficial to similar Asian countries or other low- and middle-income countries around the world.