IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0277931.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Towards work-life balance or away? The impact of work from home factors on work-life balance among software engineers during Covid-19 pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Ranitha Weerarathna
  • Nilmini Rathnayake
  • Inuri Yasara
  • Piyumi Jayasekara
  • Dewni Ruwanpura
  • Sachindra Nambugoda

Abstract

The paradigm shifts of conventional office spaces for virtual workspaces which practiced Work from Home (WFH) due to Covid-19, created a serious change in the lifestyles of employees, due to the overlap of ‘work’ and ‘life’ domains in one’s life. Since software engineers have a possibility of permanently adapting into WFH, the objective of this study is to unveil factors which would have a significant impact on the work-life balance of software engineers in Sri Lanka, while WFH. Only a very limited researches have shed light on this context, thereby this study would contribute to fill the empirical gap. The study undertook a quantitative approach by collecting primary data through a questionnaire from 384 participants, based on simple random sampling, and analyzing collected data based on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), using Smart PLS 3.3.9 software. Study results revealed that ‘supervisor’s trust and support’ and the ‘individual workspace,’ have a significant impact on work-life balance, while ‘working conditions,’ ‘possibility to access the organization’s networks’ and ‘number of children’ have no such significant impact. Thereby the study infers that, sound support and trust extended by supervisors and a designated distraction-free workspace; as measures to demarcate the boundary of work and life. Distinctive findings of this study would primarily be fruitful for software engineers to dive into a balanced state of work and life not only during Covid-19 but in future too. Study findings will also contribute to software industry personnel and policymakers in Sri Lanka as well as other developing countries, to establish effective strategies in favor of software engineers who WFH. Further, considering IT industry’s significant contribution towards Sri Lanka’s economic growth amidst Covid-19, results of this study would be high-yielding to indirectly succor IT-services-supported economic growth amidst the pandemic-driven hardships in Sri Lanka.

Suggested Citation

  • Ranitha Weerarathna & Nilmini Rathnayake & Inuri Yasara & Piyumi Jayasekara & Dewni Ruwanpura & Sachindra Nambugoda, 2022. "Towards work-life balance or away? The impact of work from home factors on work-life balance among software engineers during Covid-19 pandemic," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(12), pages 1-21, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0277931
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0277931
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0277931
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0277931&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0277931?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rejoice Jealous Tobias-Mamina & Eugine Tafadzwa Maziriri & Elizabeth Kempen, 2021. "Determinants of consumer-generated-content usage for apparel shopping: The moderating effect of gender," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(1), pages 1969766-196, January.
    2. Yu Ru Hsu, 2011. "Work‐family conflict and job satisfaction in stressful working environments," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(2), pages 233-248, May.
    3. Yu Ru Hsu, 2011. "Work‐family conflict and job satisfaction in stressful working environments," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(2), pages 233-248, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Manu Sharma & Sudhanshu Joshi & Sunil Luthra & Anil Kumar, 2024. "Impact of Digital Assistant Attributes on Millennials’ Purchasing Intentions: A Multi-Group Analysis using PLS-SEM, Artificial Neural Network and fsQCA," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 943-966, June.
    2. Clive Malietso Mukanzi & Thomas Anyanje Senaji, 2017. "Work–Family Conflict and Employee Commitment: The Moderating Effect of Perceived Managerial Support," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(3), pages 21582440177, August.
    3. Chillakuri, Bharat, 2020. "Examining the Role of Supervisor Support on Generation Z's Intention to Quit," American Business Review, Pompea College of Business, University of New Haven, vol. 23(2), pages 408-430, November.
    4. Nimitha Aboobaker & Manoj Edward, 2020. "Collective Influence of Work–Family Conflict and Work–Family Enrichment on Turnover Intention: Exploring the Moderating Effects of Individual Differences," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 21(5), pages 1218-1231, October.
    5. Amita Venkatesh & P. Aruna, 2025. "Decoding millennial’s online apparel shopping: the role of e-commerce experience as a mediator and income as a moderator," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 52(1), pages 55-81, March.
    6. Nimitha Aboobaker & Manoj Edward & Pramatha K.P., 2017. "Work–family Conflict, Family–work Conflict and Intention to Leave the Organization: Evidences Across Five Industry Sectors in India," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 18(2), pages 524-536, April.
    7. Artz, Benjamin & Taengnoi, Sarinda, 2016. "Do women prefer female bosses?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 194-202.
    8. José Manuel Lasierra & José Alberto Molina & Raquel Ortega, 2016. "How does work management improve job satisfaction? Evidence from Spain," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 36(2), pages 1202-1213.
    9. Roohangiz Karimi & Farhad Alipour, 2011. "Social support and Job stress: Moderation role of Locus of control," Journal of Asian Scientific Research, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 1(6), pages 285-290, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0277931. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.