Working from Home: Uncovering the Influence of Job Demands and Resources on Work-Stress in the Irish Tech Industry
Authors
Ositheyamhe Azimi, Joan
Vince Hoffmann, Hunter
Marie Jaenicke, Heike
Issue Date
2025.16.12
Degree
BA in Business
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
Open Access
Abstract
Remote and hybrid work have become the "new normal" in a post-pandemic world, fundamentally altering how work is conducted and experienced. Existing stress models fall short in capturing these evolving work realities, particularly in addressing a potential mismatch between academic discourse and practical applicability. This study set out to explore how job demands and resources affect work-related stress in remote and hybrid work settings within the high demand Irish tech sector, and how the Job Demand-Resource (JD-R) model can be refined to reflect these conditions. In a sequential exploratory mixed-methods approach, three qualitative interviews were conducted to identify relevant resources and demands, which then informed a quantitative online survey (n=98). Results indicate that while higher job demands did not directly predict work-related stress, the effects were fully mediated by ego depletion, suggesting the influence of the psychological appraisal of resources for the emergence of stress in remote and hybrid work environments. Job resources, in contrast, were associated with reduced stress levels, with psychological capital and job crafting strengthening this relationship. The findings highlight the need for tailored organisational interventions, aimed at enhancing individual resources to prepare and proactively support employees in remote and hybrid roles. Future research should aim to validate the refined model across other high-demand industries and explore longitudinal effects of remote and hybrid work environments for cognitive and emotional stressors.