Impact of work from home on work-life balance: Mediating effects of work-family conflict and work motivation: Mediating effects of work-family conflict and work motivation

In the aftermath of the recent pandemic, organizations around the world had the opportunity to assess the benefits and drawbacks of allowing a bulk of their employees to work from home (WFH). As a result, many organizations realize that through use of technology it is possible to shift a significant percentage of their workforce to permanently function from any location without being physically present at a designated workplace. Although the economic benefits for organizations that allow WFH seem to be clear, yet how factors related to perceptions of employees such as their work motivation (WM) and also their work-life balance (WLB) caused by blurred boundaries between work and family at home is not clearly understood. Therefore, the primary goal of this study is to determine how WFH impacts WLB through the possible mediating effects of work-family conflict (WFC) and WM. A cross-sectional survey instrument was developed using Likert type measurement scales that were adopted from top-tier journals. The data was collected through convenient sampling from 249 managerial and non-managerial employees in Omani business organizations. The relationships were tested through structural equation modelling. The results indicate that WFH increases WFC and also WM, while the relationship between WFH and WLB is mediated by WFC, but not by WM. The findings of this study have implications for both theory and practice.