Effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on academics’ work-life balance, psychological well-being, turnover intention and productivity

Abstract

Achieving a good work-life balance leads to being an employer of choice as well as attracting the best employees. The same can be said of academia, where having a well-balanced work-life balance can contribute to attracting, developing, and retaining suitably qualified academics. In this study, the aim is to examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on academics’ work-life balance, psychological well-being, and productivity. The contribution of this study is towards establishing strategies that can be adopted to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on work-life balance, psychological wellbeing, and academic productivity. A quantitative approach was adopted, and the target population consisted of academics from a selected university of technology in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This study employed the structural equation modelling (SEM) technique, and the data was analysed using AMOS 27 statistical software. The results obtained revealed that the majority of academics still work longer hours than is normally expected. Academics were found to have less time to spend with their families and loved ones than is considered typical in the literature for achieving a healthy work-life balance. There is evidence to show that poor psychological well-being of academics strengthens or moderates the effects of work-life balance on academic productivity, with beta = -0.232† (p < 0.100). Furthermore, the findings revealed that academics felt they did not have control over the reduction of their stress levels caused by the heavy workloads placed on them.