ABSTRACT

The shift to remote working due to the COVID-19 pandemic has created positive and negative results for both businesses and employees. The epidemic has altered both human health and corporate practices in accordance with the restrictions. It is essential to evaluate how the obligation to work from home affects the emotional state that employees feel about their work. This study aims to investigate the serial mediating role of the work meaning and work engagement in the effect of COVID-19 anxiety on the life satisfaction of employees who have to work from home, within the framework of protection motivation theory (PMT), utilizing structural equation modeling (SEM). The survey research was conducted using the convenience sampling method on employees across several occupations (secretaries, healthcare professionals, technicians/engineers, and self-employment) in Hatay. The survey results from 427 participants, who completed scales with confirmed validity and reliability were analyzed, were analyzed using SEM based on partial least squares (PLS). The model analysis revealed that the serial mediation of work meaning and work engagement in the effect of COVID-19 anxiety on life satisfaction. Contrary to the conventional belief that anxiety reduces positive states and emotions in employees, the finding that COVID-19 anxiety increases the work meaning and life satisfaction in employees is thought to be due to the home working conditions created by the pandemic. The findings of this study supported the KMT and showed that the work-from-home environment should be considered as a way of coping with the threat of anxiety-provoking situations such as COVID-19. These findings indicate that home working conditions should be reconsidered in order to increase work engagement and life satisfaction for both managers and employees.