Work-life balance of university teachers after two years of telework during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Apart from being a topic of key interest during the last decades for its individual and organizational effectiveness, work-life balance also has specific implications during the period of imposed remote work. OBJECTIVE: The article outlines some of the antecedents of university teachers’ work-life balance. They were the only professionals teleworking during the whole period of imposed restriction and furthermore, university teachers are a group of professionals without any prior home office or remote work experience. METHODS: The cross-sectional study comprises randomized convenient sample of 708 university teachers who were administered an online instrument, measuring the constructs of work-life balance, perceived stress, burnout, job satisfaction, general health, general fears and anxiety, and satisfaction with personal relations. RESULTS: The results reveal that perceived stress, burnout, job satisfaction, physical and mental health, psychosomatic problems and quality of relations are antecedents of participants’ work-life balance. CONCLUSIONS: University teachers have adapted to the new working mode and succeeded in maintaining moderate levels of work-life balance and burnout. However, our findings outline the need of a robust comprehensive framework, accounting for the multiple and multi-level predictors of work-life balance. Future research and HR perspectives have been outlined.