The Relationship between Remote Working and Work-life Balance with Mediating and Moderating Effects of Social Support: An Empirical Study of Information Technology Employees

This study examined the relationship between remote working and work-life balance with mediating and moderating effects of social support on work-life balance. The study surveyed the information technology employees in and around Hyderabad. The data were gathered using a structured questionnaire for the three constructs remote working, social support, and work-life balance. Only the items for the three constructs with factor loadings of > .5 were considered for this study. The reliability and internal consistency of the questionnaire were assessed by Cronbach’s alpha and Split -half (odd-even) correlation. The estimated composite reliability and average variance extracted /convergent validity for the constructs are reliable. The data from 301 valid responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling with IBM AMOS 28 version. The assessment with Shapiro Wilk’s test statistic indicates that data were normally distributed. The model fit indices demonstrated excellent model fit. There was a statistically insignificant direct effect between remote working and work-life balance; however, social support fully mediates and moderates the work-life balance of the information technology employees. The study assessed the moderating role of social support on the relationship between remote working and work-life balance. The results reveal positive and significant moderating effects of social support on the relationship between remote working and work-life balance. The slope analysis indicates that at a high level of social support, the impact of remote working on work-life balance is positively stronger than low social support, indicating more work-life balance during remote working with high social support.