Objectives: Considering the prevailing work from home (WFH) arrangement globally due to COVID-19, this paper aims to compare job-related and psychosocial factors before and during WFH setup; and to determine the relationship of these factors to work-life balance (WLB) and productivity. Methods: A total 503 employees from 46 institutions answered the online questionnaire, 318 of whom met the inclusion criteria. Paired t test and structural equation modeling (SEM) with multigroup analysis were used for the statistical analyses. Results: Psychological detachment (PD), sleep, stress, social support (SS), WLB, and productivity declined during WFH. SEM showed that PD significantly influenced stress and sleep, subsequently affecting productivity. SS significantly helped the participants maintain WLB. Conclusion: The key to increasing productivity and WLB during WFH is to foster PD and SS among employees.

Objectives This study aims to characterize the working environment, stress levels, and psychological detachment of employees working from home during the COVID‐19 pandemic in the Philippines and investigate their relationship to productivity and musculoskeletal symptoms. Methods Structural equation modeling was used to examine the direct effect of workstation characteristics, stress, and musculoskeletal symptoms to productivity and the indirect effect of psychological detachment to productivity. Data were gathered from a survey of employees working from home during the pandemic from different industries ( n = 352). Multigroup analysis was also conducted to determine the effect of age, having a spouse, and having children less than 18 years old, to the model. Results Ergonomic suitability of the workstation (WES) has a significant effect on musculoskeletal symptoms (MSS) (β = −0.31, SE = 0.06; p < .001). Both workstation suitability (β = −0.24, SE = 0.03; p < .001) and workstation ergonomic suitability (β = −0.18, SE = 0.01; p < .01) inversely affect STR. Psychological detachment has a significant inverse effect on stress (β = −0.31, SE = 0.07; p < .001) and stress has a significant negative effect on productivity (β = −0.13, SE = 0.09; p = .03). Multigroup analyses showed that stress significantly affected the productivity of those without spouses and young employees. Conclusion Workstation suitability helps improve the productivity of people working from home while stress negatively affects it. Workstation ergonomic suitability and musculoskeletal symptoms have no significant effect.

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