Flexibility and Saudi Employees’ Perceptions of Job Satisfaction: A Multisector Study

Abstract

The influence of job satisfaction components (pay, work settings, career growth, flexibility, and supervision) varies. Previous studies have shown job satisfaction is positively correlated with work settings, total compensation, and growth opportunities. There is, however, little evidence of job satisfaction in remote working after COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to analyze the job satisfaction in remote working settings (workspace flexibility) among Saudi employees after the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic to determine ways to restructure human resource management practices post COVID-19. An online survey (n = 1113) to assess job satisfaction, taking flexibility into account, was conducted among Saudi employees, and the impact of flexibility and remote working policy in various sectors was measured using a Likert scale. The empirical findings demonstrate that periods of remote work are highly valued by employees, predominantly owing to their desire to fulfill personal duties and decrease stress. Interestingly, flexibility scored low among other job satisfaction components owing to two hypothesized reasons. Employees normally receive supervisor approval to combine working from home and the office; hence, they already receive this benefit. The findings of this study provide guidelines for practitioners and HR managers. Human resource management needs to adapt to changing circumstances and challenges, which requires long-term development, adaptation, and updating of human resource policies. This study contributes to literature on human resources by illustrating how managing organizational change can be improved by applying employee flexibility, which was made more pervasive by the worldwide pandemic.