Does working style affect the occupational balance and life satisfaction of office workers in Turkey? A comparison study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) has caused various effects, changing people’s lives and work styles. During this period, workplaces decided to work remotely, so people spent more time at home. Therefore, workers’ personal and work lives were negatively affected. OBJECTIVE: This study planned to compare traditional and remote office workers’ occupational balance and life satisfaction in Turkey during COVID-19. METHODS: Google Survey was used for data collection. Three hundred office workers (18–65 years old) from Turkey participated in the study. The occupational balance and life satisfaction levels of participants were assessed using the Occupational Balance Questionnaire (QB-Quest) and Personal Well-being Index-Adult (PWI-A). RESULTS: Data collected were analyzed statistically by the Independent Sample t-test. It was found that the remote office workers had lower levels of occupational balance (p = 0.02; r = –3.317) and life satisfaction (p = 0.01; r = –2.199) compared to the traditional office workers. CONCLUSION: Remote office workers were found to have lower occupational balance and life satisfaction than traditional office workers. In this period, when the way of working changes like COVID-19, it is crucial to determine office workers’ occupational balance and life satisfaction and take precautions for their job performance and satisfaction.