Exploring the Impact of Remote Working During COVID-19 Lockdown on Work-Life Balance, Job Satisfaction, and Performance of Employees in the UAE

This paper emphasises the perception of working parents regarding the mandatory remote working (work from home) arrangements and their impact on job satisfaction and performance during the COVID-19 lockdown in UAE. Qualitative data was collected using an online questionnaire from 56 working parents in UAE and evaluated using thematic analysis. The research explored the impacts of various antecedents from the work and family domain on work-life balance and the effect of remote working arrangements on job satisfaction and performance. The results suggest that remote working increased working hours and work demands, adversely impacting work-life balance. In contrast, increased family time and decreased family demands positively impacted work-life balance. Work-from-home arrangements and family support moderated the negative impact on work-life balance and increased Job satisfaction and performance. The research found that male participants had more family-work facilitation than female participants, whereas more female participants informed family-work conflict due to caring responsibilities. Participants between the age group of 30 and 39 faced family-work conflict. Most believed Family demands and family time interfered with work responsibilities. One of the significant findings was that parents with young children (less than ten years old) complained of difficulty managing family responsibilities with work-from-home arrangements. These findings will aid organisations in designing policies focused on work-life balance to improve employee satisfaction and performance while working from home during the COVID-19 lockdown and beyond.