The impact of remote working on employee productivity during COVID-19 in the UAE: the moderating role of job level

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the various factors that influence the productivity (PR) of employees who worked remotely in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a quantitative approach to analyze data collected online from 110 respondents using the snowball sampling technique during the pandemic. The analysis of the data is conducted using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique of Smart PLS (Partial least squares) to evaluate the direct and moderating variables.FindingsThe results indicate that direct variables such as workload, job satisfaction, work–life balance and social support have a significant positive impact on employee PR in the UAE. However, the analysis of the moderating variable indicates that job level is not a significant moderator of the above relationships. The findings, generally, provide support for social exchange theory.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study will help businesses of various domains in a variety of industries in understanding the core factors that should be considered to enhance the overall PR of their employees while working from home. Businesses can achieve their organizational goals by ensuring steady growth even during uncertain times.Originality/valueThis paper answers the question of whether remote working affects employee PR during the pandemic in an emerging market, namely the UAE. The current study contributes to the existing literature by combining the variables investigated in previous studies into a single study and by considering job level as a moderator variable.

Workplace Without Walls: An Investigation Into Remote Working and Employee Well-Being at Maybank, Malaysia

“…According to (Kurdy et al, 2023), telecommuting can boost productivity, with the degree dependent on the job level. They suggest tailoring telecommuting regulations to different job levels to maximize productivity improvements.…”

Praca zdalna na tle różnic międzypokoleniowych

“…Badania skupiające się na problematyce pracy zdalnej są zróżnicowane i obejmują wiele różnych kierunków, między innymi: ocenę efektywności (Grant i in., 2013;Kurdy i in., 2023;Tabor-Błażewicz i Rachoń, 2022;Wang i in., 2021), zdrowia, dobrostanu i doświadczeń pracowników (Barriga Medina i in., 2021;Burr i in., 2022;Felstead i Henseke, 2017;Irawanto i in., 2021;Osoian & Petre, 2022;Rodríguez--Modroño i López-Igual, 2021;Sonnentag i in., 2023;Zampetakis, 2022), wykorzystywanych technologii i narzędzi pracy (Král i in., 2022;Wang i in., 2023), organizacji pracy, kultury organizacyjnej (Deschênes, 2023;Giauque et al, 2022). Istnieją również badania analizujące problem pracy zdalnej z perspektywy zrównoważonego rozwoju (Zrównoważony…, 2022), edukacji (Brzózka i in., 2021), produktywności pracy (Woźniak-Jęchorek, 2022b), innowacji, mobilności czy przyszłości pracy (Al-Habaibeh i in., 2021).…”

Development of Notification System to Prevent Working Productivity from Declining Caused by Increased Carbon Dioxide Concentration

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