Remote working and work performance during the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of remote work satisfaction, digital literacy, and cyberslacking

ABSTRACT

Social distancing policies ushered in by the COVID-19 pandemic have altered working conditions and created new job demands. This study adopted the Job Demands−Resources (JD−R) model to investigate the relationship between demands and strains (i.e. social isolation, remote work stress, and fear of COVID-19) and remote work satisfaction and remote work performance. Additionally, the study sought to identify the moderating roles of employees’ digital literacy and cyberslacking in the relationship between remote work satisfaction and remote work performance. After analysing data collected from a sample of 340 Iranian remote workers, results showed social isolation, remote work stress, and fear of COVID-19 related to remote work satisfaction negatively and decrease remote work performance through the mediation of remote work satisfaction. Moreover, digital literacy and cyberslacking moderated the relationship between remote work satisfaction and remote work performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. By linking job demands and strains, psychological states, and employee output, this research notably contributes to the literature on remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• Job demands−resources model
• social isolation
• remote work stress
• fear of COVID-19
• digital literacy
• cyberslacking

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).