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Can Teleworking Improve Workers’ Job Satisfaction? Exploring the Roles of Gender and Emotional Well-Being

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  • Zhuofei Lu

    (University of Manchester)

  • Wei Zhuang

    (University of Manchester
    University of Manchester)

Abstract

With the rise of teleworking during the past decades, the impacts of teleworking on job satisfaction have been extensively debated. Teleworking might benefit workers by improving work-life balance and emotional well-being, but it also brings considerable challenges. This study empirically investigates the impacts of teleworking on workers’ enjoyment across daily working episodes and job satisfaction and its gendered patterns, using Ordinary Least Squares regressions and the latest nationally representative time-use survey data in the UK. Moreover, it uses the Karlson/Holm/Breen (KHB) decomposition method to examine the role of enjoyment at work in mediating the associations between teleworking and job satisfaction. Overall, this study yields two major findings. First, among men, teleworkers tend to have higher levels of enjoyment at work and job satisfaction, but this is not the case for women. Second, around 46% of teleworking’s positive impacts on men’s job satisfaction can be explained by higher levels of enjoyment at work. Taken together, by integrating different theoretical perspectives on teleworking, gender and emotional well-being, this study provides interdisciplinary insights into the nuanced social consequences of teleworking, highlights the disadvantaged position of women in the use of teleworking, and demonstrates the need to enhance emotional well-being in future labour market policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhuofei Lu & Wei Zhuang, 2023. "Can Teleworking Improve Workers’ Job Satisfaction? Exploring the Roles of Gender and Emotional Well-Being," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(3), pages 1433-1452, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ariqol:v:18:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s11482-023-10145-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s11482-023-10145-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Rodrigo Montero & Natalia Bernal, 2024. "Gender and Well-Being Disparities Among People who Work from Home in Chile," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 25(6), pages 1-22, August.
    2. Ana Junça-Silva & António Caetano, 2024. "How good is teleworking? Development and validation of the tele attitude scale," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 4941-4958, October.
    3. Zhuofei Lu & Senhu Wang & Yaojun Li & Xiyuan Liu & Wendy Olsen, 2023. "Who Gains Mental Health Benefits from Work Autonomy? The Roles of Gender and Occupational Class," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(4), pages 1761-1783, August.

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