The COVID-19 pandemic has thrust millions of workers into high-intensity telecommuting. While much research has examined the first months of the pandemic, little is known about how workers have responded to this new work arrangement over time. The stressor-reaction perspective suggests that any strain related to the physical separation from coworkers may persist as long as the stressor is present, while the adaptation perspective implies that individuals adopt new behaviours that help them adjust once the initial shock is over. This research examines the changes in work belongingness, meaningful work, and emotional exhaustion following a shift to high-intensity telecommuting, between September 2020 and March 2021. We conducted a four-wave study among an organizational sample of 716 workers who transitioned to high-intensity telecommuting during the pandemic. Latent growth modelling analyses showed that new high-intensity telecommuters experienced declines in work belongingness over time, which in turn led to decreased perceptions that their work was meaningful and increased emotional exhaustion, supporting the stress-reaction perspective. Contrary to theoretical predictions, trajectories were worse for those with a higher initial affective commitment to coworkers. We discuss how our findings can inform scholars and practitioners about the unfolding consequences of a collective shift to high-intensity telecommuting.

中文翻译：

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新的高强度远程办公者的归属感、有意义的工作和情绪疲惫的变化：来自大流行病远程工作者的见解

COVID-19 大流行迫使数百万工人进行高强度的远程办公。尽管许多研究都考察了大流行的头几个月，但人们对随着时间的推移工人对这种新工作安排的反应却知之甚少。压力反应观点认为，只要压力因素存在，与同事身体分离相关的任何压力都可能持续存在，而适应观点则意味着，一旦最初的冲击结束，个人就会采取新的行为来帮助他们进行调整。本研究考察了 2020 年 9 月至 2021 年 3 月期间转向高强度远程办公后工作归属感、有意义的工作和情绪疲惫的变化。我们对 716 名过渡到高强度远程办公的员工进行了四波研究。疫情期间远程办公强度加大。潜在增长模型分析表明，随着时间的推移，新的高强度远程办公者的工作归属感会下降，这反过来又导致他们对工作有意义的看法下降，情绪疲惫加剧，这支持了压力反应的观点。与理论预测相反，对于那些对同事初始情感承诺较高的人来说，轨迹更糟糕。我们讨论了我们的研究结果如何让学者和从业者了解集体转向高强度远程办公所带来的后果。