Predictors of workplace satisfaction. Working onsite versus working from home

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has not only taught us about viral infections, but also provided employers with unique opportunities to experiment with different work modes. What leads employees to be more satisfied: working onsite or working from home? The aim of this paper is to elucidate how the work environment impacts workplace satisfaction. In the framework of Herzberg’s motivation theory, we define the physical, digital, and social environment as the most important hygiene factors. In our study, we investigate the relationship between these hygiene factors and workplace satisfaction. Based on the survey data from office workers in Switzerland, we identify the predictors of workplace satisfaction for working onsite and working from home respectively. Our statistical analysis shows that the three hygiene factors have a significant positive impact on workplace satisfaction both for working onsite and working from home. Specifically, the workplace design in the context of the physical environment stands out to have the strongest effect on the workplace satisfaction for onsite work. In contrast, for working from home, the software availability in the context of the digital environment exerts the greatest influence on workplace satisfaction. Thus, workplace satisfaction can be maximized by targeted optimization of specific aspects of the work environment depending on the work mode.