Association Among Remote Working and Work-Life Balance with Mediating Effect of Social Support: An Empirical Study Concerning Migrated Employees in Hyderabad, During Covid-19 Pandemic

Objective: To examine the association between remote working and work-life balance with mediating effect of social support on work-life balance among migrated employees in Hyderabad Metro. The study was carried out by surveying the migrated employees who are working super markets, malls, IT industry and construction industry, and are from different states across India, working in Hyderabad city. The data were collected during May 2021 to May 2022. Method: The survey type of research adopted in this empirical study. The data were gathered using a questionnaire with 24 items for 3 constructs remote working with 12 items, social support 6 items, and work-life balance with 6 items. However, 5 items (2 from remote working, 1 from social support, and 2 from work-life balance) were dropped from the study because the outer loadings of the items were <0.5. Results: The reliability and internal consistency of the questionnaire were assed measuring Cronbach’s alpha and Split-half (odd-even) correlations which ranged from 0.80 to 0.92 indicating strong internal consistency and reliability. The data from a total of 301 correct responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling using IBM AMOS 28 version. The data normality was assessed with Shapiro Wilk’s test (p>0.05), The model fit indices demonstrated excellent model fit. There was a statistically insignificant (p>0.05) direct effect between remote working and work-life balance, while social support is fully mediating the work-life balance (p<0.001) of the migrated employees. The moderation analysis indicates statistically significant gender differences with the constructs remote working, work-life balance, and social support exhibiting statistically significant differences among the gender groups. The detailed results are presented in the manuscript. Conclusions: the study provides valuable insights into the impact of remote working on work-life balance and the role of social support as a mediating factor, in particular on migrated employees. The results can be used by companies to enhance their remote work policies and practices, thereby improving work-life balance and overall job satisfaction for their employees. Remote working has become an increasingly popular option for many workers in recent years, with the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating this trend.