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For many IT professionals in India, the post-COVID era brought a boom of hybrid working. Hybrid work allowed for greater flexibility, autonomy and improved work-life balance. However this introduces a quiet challenge – the erosion of boundaries between work and life. With many companies adopting this hybrid work mode approach, it raises the question of whether this flexible work mode would also support employee well-being.
I conducted a recent study among 153 professionals aged between 21- 40 years working in India’s IT sector across in-office, remote, and hybrid work modes. The study examined the relationship of work-life balance and the employees’ locus of control over work and personal lives. The findings from the study suggest that, while there was no difference in work-life balance across the different work modes, persons who believed they had greater personal control over their boundaries and decisions reported better balance regardless of whether they worked from home, in-office, or in a hybrid mode. In other words, well-being depends less on the work location and more on the individual’s perceived agency.
While the IT sector is known for high performance expectations, job demands, and extended working hours; young and early-career professionals may wish to prove their worth by going above and beyond to achieve professional goals. This may lead to slow encroachment into personal time, at the expense of their health. Employees may feel burnt out and also experience chronic stress resulting in diminished productivity, lower quality work, and exhaustion as they may feel the compulsion to be available 24×7. Hybrid work environments do offer structural flexibility, but without clear boundaries, it may impact the employee’s well-being.
The findings of this study offer insights that can inform organizational policies and facilitate intervention strategies to promote employee well-being by fostering deeper psychological safety and empowerment.
About the author:
Masha Antoinette Philbert is a final-year student currently pursuing her Master’s in Psychology specialising in Health and Wellbeing at CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore. The study was conducted under the guidance of her supervisor, Dr. Rekha Ahuja, to explore workplace wellbeing and mental health within India’s IT sector.
These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.