The influence of work from home stressors, psychological capital, and digital technologies on employee workplace anxiety

Abstract

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, work was restructured, and the work-from-home format became the norm. The primary aim of this study is to determine how the unexpected change to working from home (WFH) following the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to employee workplace anxiety (EWA). The objective is to evaluate the impact of work-from-home stressors, psychological capital (PsyCap), and digital technology (DT) on employee workplace anxiety. This study followed the positivist research ethic and used a quantitative research design. A hundred and sixty-two employees from various state-owned corporations (SOCs) participated in the study by completing an online self-administered questionnaire. Data was processed, hypotheses were tested, and results were analysed. Findings revealed that WFH stressors as a construct with all the variables (work overload, role ambiguity, job insecurity and work-home conflict) have a positive relation/impact and an effect or influence on EWA. The study also implies that PsyCap as a construct has a negative relationship with or influence on EWA; with PsyCap variables (hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism) only hope was found with a moderating effect on EWA. The study concluded with a finding that DT with its variables of perceived usefulness, perceived ease, and technical support exhibits a negative relationship with EWA and cannot be used as a moderating effect.