Impact of Remote E-Working on Work Exhaustion: Role of Technostress and Problem-Focused Coping Strategies

Abstract

The covid-19 pandemic has necessitated many companies to transform their conventional working arrangements toward digitalization more than ever by enabling remote e-working practices supported using information and communication technologies (ICT). While there is a plethora of studies related to challenges along with impact of remote e-working, less is known about how employees might use coping skills as useful tool in order to lessen the negative effects of technostress and decrease employee remote work exhaustion. The study’s objective is to explore the relationship between remote e-working and remote work exhaustion while taking technostress as a mediator and problem-focused coping strategy as a moderator. The data of 291 respondents was collected from engineering professionals working in the IT industries of Pakistan, who were selected based on purposive sampling. Smart PLS 4 was used for quantitative analysis of the collected data and applied various statistical techniques, aiming to investigate both the direct and indirect effects. The study’s result adds to the current knowledge by providing insights into the significance of positive remote e-working experience by reducing remote work exhaustion within Pakistan's IT sector. The study demonstrates the impact of technostress as a mediator and problem-focused coping strategies as a moderator, emphasizing their role in employee level of exhaustion while working remotely. The research will have implications for both academic and managerial domains. From an academic standpoint, this study will enhance comprehension of relationship among remote e-working and remote work exhaustion, with a specific focus on developing economies like Pakistan. On a managerial level, the findings will offer valuable insights to organizations operating in these sectors, enabling them to formulate coping strategies that are effective at the organizational level and establish formal remote e-working practices and policies to mitigate technostress and remote work exhaustion. Consequently, this will lead to an improvement in employee well-being.