Remote Working and Wellbeing of Academicians in a Public University in Malaysia
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Abstract
Remote working or working from home among academicians during the COVID-19 pandemic introduced new challenges including blurred work-life boundaries, technostress, professional isolation, and workload difficulties. This study aimed to explore the prevalence, and factors associated with well-being among remote-working academicians at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) during the Movement Control Order (MCO), addressing a gap in understanding the impact of these challenges on their well-being. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among remote-working academicians from the UPM Serdang Campus, using stratified proportionate-to-size sampling from October 2020 to July 2021. Data were collected using online questionnaires, with Cronbach Alpha values between 0.712 and 0.899. The well-being was measured using General Health Questionnaires (GHQ-12). Other variables in this study were constructed based on the Social Ecological Model, including technostress, work-life balance, workload, professional isolation, and flexible working policy. Results: The prevalence of positive well-being among respondents was 58.13%. Significant associations were observed between positive well-being and age (p=0.005), number of children (p=0.040), technostress level (p<0.001), work-life balance (p<0.001), intensity of remote working (p=0.025), workload (p<0.001), and professional isolation (p<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression identified good work-life balance (AOR 3.636, 95% CI 1.915-6.902, p<0.001) and absence of professional isolation (AOR 4.870, 95% CI 2.595-9.140, p<0.001) as predictors of positive well-being. Conclusion: This study establishes a baseline for understanding the well-being of academicians working from home during a pandemic. Ensuring positive well-being is crucial for maintaining teaching and learning quality, and strategies to support this should focus on work-life balance and reducing professional isolation.
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