Workplace Wellbeing and Quality of Working Life

Workplace wellbeing and the quality of working life (QWL) denote employees’ experience of health, satisfaction and fulfilment through their paid work. QWL encompasses the balance between job demands and available resources, the social environment at work and opportunities for personal growth. High QWL underpins job satisfaction, engagement and organisational commitment, while low QWL manifests as stress, burnout and turnover intention. Recent global challenges—accelerated digitalisation, hybrid work arrangements and heightened psychological demands—have intensified focus on creating supportive policies, measuring key dimensions of work life and designing interventions that bolster resilience, autonomy and social connectivity.

Research from Nature Portfolio

A large randomised trial in a multinational technology firm examined a hybrid schedule of two days at home and three days in the office. Over six months, employees on the hybrid model reported significant gains in job satisfaction and a one-third reduction in quit rates, with no adverse effects on performance metrics, innovation or promotion prospects. Managers’ initial scepticism about remote productivity shifted to positive appraisal once data confirmed equivalent output in code generation and review outcomes under hybrid conditions.

A survey of remote-working employees during the pandemic explored the impact of family–work conflict on productivity. Structural modelling showed that family–work conflict exerted a negative effect on work-from-home performance, but this was partially reversed by higher work engagement and self-efficacy. The mediation analyses revealed that employees with stronger confidence in their remote-work skills and higher intrinsic motivation were better able to maintain productivity despite domestic pressures, with the negative impact of family–work conflict being more pronounced for those with greater home-working days.

Workplace Wellbeing and Quality of Working Life publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in workplace wellbeing and quality of working life across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Quality of Working Life (QWL): The degree to which work provides employees with fulfilment, fair conditions, autonomy and opportunities for development.

Workplace wellbeing: A holistic state encompassing physical, psychological and social health at work.

Burnout: A work-related syndrome characterised by emotional exhaustion, cynicism and reduced professional efficacy.

Work engagement: A positive, fulfilling state marked by vigour, dedication and absorption in one’s tasks.

Hybrid working: A structured arrangement combining remote and in-office days to balance flexibility and collaboration.

Work engagement: A positive, fulfilling state marked by vigour, dedication and absorption in one’s tasks.

Social capital: The network of trust, shared norms and mutual support within a workplace that facilitates cooperation and resilience.

Job demands–resources (JD-R) model: A framework describing how job demands can lead to strain and how resources foster engagement and buffer stress.

References

1. Hybrid working from home improves retention without damaging performance. Nature (2024).
2. Family–work conflict and work-from-home productivity: do work engagement and self-efficacy mediate?. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (2023).
3. Associations between accumulating job stressors, workplace social capital, and psychological distress on work-unit level: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health (2023).
4. What is the prevalence of burnout amongst first contact physiotherapists working within primary care?. Musculoskeletal Care (2023).
5. Positive psychology in the working environment. Job demands-resources theory, work engagement and burnout: A systematic literature review. Frontiers in Psychology (2022).
6. An Introduction to Employee Well-Being Research Terrain.