Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Master Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (Research)

Department

Cork Institute of Technology

First Advisor

Dr. Rose Leahy

Abstract

The world of work is changing with the separation of work and personal life becoming an increasing challenge. Advances in technology have facilitated the mobility of work with over 6 billion people having access to a mobile phone which has led to greater demands on the modern worker which poses a question. What is the relationship between work-life integration and job satisfaction with regard to stress and employee well-being?

Due to the universal application of the chosen research topic, an industry focus was not chosen to allow for the collection of generalisable data. Questionnaires were the chosen research method and were widely distributed among Irish workers. The questionnaire focused specifically on workers perceptions of work-life integration, the importance of it, the availability of work-life options and its effect on workers. Additionally, questions in relation to factors affecting workers job satisfaction were also queried. This study looks at how this "always on’ attitude affects the modern worker and raises a question as to whether the ability to work from anywhere has impacted employees’ ability to de-stress and effectively manage their well-being.

From the evidence in this study the traditional 9-5 working day is no more as technology has resulted in employees working past their contracted hours and in their personal down time. Findings from this study indicate that work-life integration can have a positive or negative impact on workers job satisfaction, stress and well-being. Modern employees require flexibility in their work-lives in order to effectively manage the crossover between their work and home responsibilities. The degree to which employees are granted this flexibility influences their level of job satisfaction, workplace stress, and whether they will take up and engage in wellbeing initiatives. A second significant finding illustrated the influence of managerial support on the uptake of flexible working and well-being initiatives. Evidence suggests that employees require support and encouragement from their managers in order to feel engaging with work- life options and well-being initiatives are viable options open to them and will not depict them in a negative light to the organisation.

It is evident from the findings that work-life integration has an effect on the modern worker. Organisations must develop appropriate options and provide workers with support in order for this effect to be positive rather than negative.

Access Level

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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