Job Satisfaction and Work Characteristics Combinations in Industry 4.0 Environment—Insight from the Polish SMEs in the Post–Pandemic Era

Abstract

The development of Industry 4.0, which has been observed for many years, spans the period before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This concept, which describes the complex process of business transformation, is reflected in a growing number of studies showing that the aim of Industry 4.0 is not to eliminate the human factor, but to introduce effective collaboration between people, systems, and machines. The success of a company depends to a large extent on the efficiency and productivity of its employees, to which job satisfaction is directly related. Job satisfaction is a phenomenon influenced by many factors, including job characteristics. Recognition of the relationship between job satisfaction and job characteristics throughout the implementation of Industry 4.0 solutions is marginal. Therefore, an attempt was made to identify the relationship between job characteristics and the achievement of job satisfaction in the digital transformation era by conducting a survey among Polish SMEs after the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey used the fs/QCA method. The results of the study contribute to SME theory and practice by identifying different combinations of job characteristics leading to high and low job satisfaction in an Industry 4.0 environment.