Remote Work Flexibility and Employee Productivity: The Mediating Role of Work-Life Balance

Abstract

This study employed descriptive-explanatory research design in examining the relationship between the work-life balance of flex workers and their productivity through a survey. In order to collect data, a questionnaire was developed with 5 Likert scale questions on remote work flexibility, work-life balance and employee productivity, and distributed to 220 respondents who were working under hybrid or fully remote arrangement using purposive sampling. All constructs were shown to be reliable with Cronbach's alpha, and descriptive and correlation analysis revealed that the three constructs were all significantly and positively interrelated. The results showed that remote work flexibility had a significant positive total effect on employee productivity, remote work flexibility had a significant positive effect on work-life balance, and work-life balance had a significant positive effect on employee productivity. Bootstrapped mediation analysis showed that work-life balance was found to significantly and partially mediate the remote work flexibility-employee productivity link and accounted for about 55% of the total effect. The results indicate that employment flexibility in terms of working remotely is positively linked to employee productivity, which is mainly due to the fact that it provides better work-life balance—not exclusively—but not to the flexibility itself. Theoretical and practical implications for the design of hybrid and remote work policies are discussed.