Hybridarbeit und Mitarbeiter*innenbindung in der IT-Branche

: Eine empirische Untersuchung des Zusammenhangs zwischen Remote Work und organisationalem Commitment unter Berücksichtigung der Extraversion

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between hybrid work and employee retention in
the IT industry, with a particular focus on the personality trait of extraversion. The
IT industry, which plays an increasingly important role in today’s globally connected
world, suffers from a shortage of well-educated and highly skilled professionals, which
may be caused by employees’ weak emotional attachment to their organisations.
This study provides insights into the opportunities and challenges of employee retention
and examines the extent to which the level of remote working activities correlates
with organisational commitment. The personality trait of extraversion may play a
particular role in this context, as extraverted employees often show higher level of
affective commitment. In addition, these people tend to have a greater need for social
ties, which could remain unfulfilled by increased remote working activities.
The study was conducted in a medium-sized IT consulting and systems integration company and included 342 participants from Germany and Austria. An online questionnaire
was used to collect quantitative data on the extent of remote working, organisational
commitment and extraversion. These were supplemented by open questions that examined both positive and negative aspects of remote and on-site work. The results of the
study showed that there was no correlation between the amount of remote working and
affective, normative or calculative commitment. This suggests that remote working per
se does not directly influence commitment. Rather, other factors such as the way in
which remote work is carried out, the company culture or the individual preferences of
employees may play a role. For instance, the type of remote work (alone versus with colleagues) was found to influence the comparison between introverts and extraverts. The
proportion of remote work alone, but not remote work with colleagues, was found to correlate negatively with normative commitment for extraverts, while this correlation was
found to be descriptively positive for introverts. This could indicate that extraverts in
sole remote work have a lower moral commitment to their organisation than introverts.

Date of Award	2024
Original language	German (Austria)
Supervisor	Carrie Kovacs (Supervisor)