Techno-stressors and employees\u27 work-life balance in the digital era

Abstract

The implementation of information and communication technology for work has brought lots of benefits to humankind, such as higher productivity and efficiency employees. Nevertheless, employees are experiencing more threats (also known as techno-stress) from rapid technology advancement in the workplace, due to their inadaptability to such changes. Techno-stressor is becoming a major stressor for employees in the current workplace. While lots of research show that techno-stressors negatively Impact employees\u27 work attitudes and performance, little is known about the effects of techno-stressors on employees\u27 work-life interaction. I will present the findings of our studies about the relationships between techno-stressors and employees\u27 work-life balance, and the boundary condition and underlying mechanism. The results showed that: 1) techno-stressors were negatively related to employees\u27 work-life balance; 2) job self-efficacy moderated the negative relationship such that job self-efficacy could buffer the negative effect of techno-stressors on work-life balance: 3) emotional exhaustion mediated the moderating effect of job self-efficacy such that the buffering effect of job self-efficacy worker through lowering employees\u27 emotional exhaustion. Moreover, we also found that techno-stressors make employees experience high level of workplace objectification, and digital mindset could buffer the negative impacts of techno-stressors on employees experienced objectification in the workplace. The studies enriches the techno-stress literature by extending techno-stressors\u27 effects on individuals\u27 work-life interaction, provides practical implications for both employees and employers to effectively cope with techno-stressors. Keywords Techno-stress, work-life balance, job self-efficacy, digital mindset, workplace objectificatio