Finding Fulfillment: An Examination of the Fulfillment of Maslow’s Needs Among Traditional, Remote, and Hybrid-Setting Employees

The traditional office paradigm has shifted in the wake of COVID-19 and the Great Resignation. Workplace flexibility is no longer an employee benefit but rather an expectation. To explore the effects of this change, this study applied Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory to elements of organizational job design. Specifically, this study sought to determine if traditional, remote, or hybrid work settings influence employees’ fulfillment of Maslow’s five fundamental human needs. As a result, this study found that hybrid-setting employees have statistically greater levels of satisfaction with physiological needs, safety-security needs, belongingness needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs than when compared to traditional and remote-setting employees. These results affirm the benefits of hybrid-setting employment, likely attributed to heightened workplace flexibility compounded with the maintenance of in-person collaboration and social contact.