A study on middle-class female remote workers: a study on work-family conflict, job satisfaction and interpersonal communication satisfaction

Abstract

Purpose- This study sought to investigate the impact of the emerging remote working model, which has gained significant popularity among businesses in recent years, specifically focusing on middle-class female employees. The primary objectives included understanding how work-family conflict, job satisfaction, and interpersonal communication satisfaction interplay in the context of remote work and how they contribute to the overall employee experience. Methodology- To gather the data for the study, a comprehensive questionnaire was designed and distributed among the target population. The data collected were meticulously analyzed using the SPSS 23 statistical package program, ensuring the reliability and precision of the results. For further validation and in-depth interpretation, advanced statistical models such as Random Forest (RF) and Naive Bayes (NB) were employed. These supervised machine learning models played a crucial role in enhancing the completeness of the analysis and corroborating the study findings. Findings- Empirical analysis led to several significant conclusions. The first was the finding that work-family conflict exhibited a negative correlation with interpersonal communication satisfaction. This suggested that a higher level of conflict between work and family roles tends to lower the quality of interpersonal communication in the context of remote work. Furthermore, the study found a positive relationship between job satisfaction and the nexus between work-family conflict and interpersonal communication satisfaction. This indicates that higher job satisfaction can potentially mitigate the negative impacts of work-family conflict on communication. Conclusion- The study provides critical information on the challenges faced by middle-class female remote workers, particularly in the realm of work-family conflict and its subsequent effects. The findings underscore the negative implications of this conflict on both job satisfaction and interpersonal communication. Employers and organizations, therefore, must be mindful of these issues and devise suitable strategies, taking into account these outcomes to better manage the work-life balance and communication dynamics of their remote working female employees, thus improving their overall work experience. Keywords: Remote work, woman, work-family conflict, job satisfaction, ınterpersonal communication. JEL codes: E24, O47, J21