When the exception becomes the norm: A quantitative analysis of the dark side of work from home

Abstract

Although many scholars and practitioners have shown that work from home (WFH) leads to positive organizational outcomes, the COVID-19 outbreak’s consequences suggest important downsides associated with an increased extent of WFH. Utilizing theories of social identity and need to belong, this study aims to investigate the potential dark sides of an increased extent of WFH. In a moderated mediation model, we test how an increased extent of WFH affects feelings of isolation and further influences the employees’ organizational identification. Our study is based on data from an online survey of 382 employees in Germany. Results suggest that a higher extent of WFH during the COVID-19 lockdown leads to more social isolation and less organizational identification. Besides, our results show that task interdependence significantly moderates the correlation between an increased extent of WFH and social isolation. In such manner, our study contributes to the literature on potential counterproductive organizational effects caused by an increased necessity of WFH. Organizations must develop countermeasures to better integrate employees who WFH more intensely into organizational routines to decrease their feelings of social isolation and increase their organizational identification.