Whom Does Remote Work Make Happy? The Digital Divide in Remote Workers' Well-Being

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Sociology
• Information Science

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the global shift to remote work, increasing focus on employee well-being.
• Existing research on remote work well-being has not fully addressed social disparities and the digital divide.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the factors contributing to varying well-being among remote workers.
• To extend digital divide scholarship into the remote work context.
• To understand the role of socioeconomic status (SES) and information and communication technology (ICT) usage in remote worker well-being.

Main Methods:

• A two-wave longitudinal panel study was conducted in South Korea.
• Data were collected from 501 participants in Wave 1 (February 2021) and Wave 2 (October 2021).
• Further analysis focused on 144 employees with remote work opportunities in hierarchical organizations.

Main Results:

• Individuals with lower education levels had fewer remote work opportunities.
• Socioeconomic status (SES) indirectly influenced well-being through diverse ICT usage.
• Higher SES and diverse ICT use correlated with lower vulnerability and greater effectiveness in maintaining well-being in virtual communication.

Conclusions:

• Social disparities significantly impact remote worker well-being, mediated by ICT usage diversity and virtual communication satisfaction.
• The study reveals how social stratification and the digital divide are reproduced in remote work environments.
• Findings advance theoretical discussions on the evolving nature of work and inequality.