Does Remote Work Make People Happy? Effects of Flexibilization of Work Location and Working Hours on Happiness at Work and Affective Commitment in the German Banking Sector

Timo Kortsch, Ricarda Rehwaldt, Manon E. Schwake and Chantal Licari
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Timo Kortsch: Department of Health and Social Work, IU International University, 99084 Erfurt, Germany
Ricarda Rehwaldt: Department of Business and Management, IU International University, 99084 Erfurt, Germany
Manon E. Schwake: Department of Education & Social Sciences, University of Hildesheim, 31141 Hildesheim, Germany
Chantal Licari: FELICICON GmbH, 13127 Berlin, Germany

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 15, 1-13

Abstract: (1) Background: In view of the advancing digitalization of the German banking sector, offering remote work can be an opportunity for banks to meet changing customer and employee needs at the same time. It allows flexible consultations at changing locations and, due to the high degree of autonomy, it also increases motivation, meaningfulness, happiness at work, and commitment. (2) Methods: This study used a quasi-experimental design to investigate how remote work affects happiness at work and affective commitment among employees in a German public bank. Therefore, two groups of customer advisors were examined, who work either remotely (N = 32) or stationary (N = 110) at similar tasks. (3) Results: The group comparisons show significantly higher values overall on three of the investigated four happiness dimensions (“meaningfulness”, “self-actualization”, and “community professional”) for employees in the remote group. Commitment also differs, as employees in the remote group show significantly stronger commitment. The quantitative results were confirmed by qualitative interviews. (4) Conclusions: By investigating the positive effects of remote working, this study shows new findings on what is likely to be a growing design form of New Work in the future. The study provides evidence that self-selected work environments and working hours offer an opportunity to make work more conducive to happiness—even in a sector that still undergoes significant shifts.

Keywords: remote work; happiness; commitment; banking sector; quasi-experimental design; work design; new work (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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