This review highlights the need for more temporally sensitive, context-specific, and resource-oriented research, and proposes an integrative framework to guide future research and support the design of healthier and sustainable digital workplaces.
Abstract
Digital transformation constantly changes the work practices and employee experiences of contemporary work environments. Studies have documented the adverse impact of cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence, algorithmic systems, and digital platforms on employees’ well-being. However, such findings remain fragmented across technologies, disciplines, and well-being constructs, limiting a coherent understanding of how digitally transformed work conditions affect employees. This study systematically reviews the literature on digital transformation and employee well-being to clarify the conditions, mechanisms, and outcomes that are most consistently identified in prior research. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method, this study identified, screened, and selected 57 peer-reviewed articles (2014–2025) on digital transformation and employee well-being. The Gioia inductive analytical approach was used to synthesise the reviewed studies and to develop higher-order conceptual dimensions. Five interrelated aggregate dimensions were identified: digital transformation conditions, digital resources and demands, mediating processes, contextual factors, and employee well-being outcomes. The findings indicate that employee well-being depends significantly on how digitally intensified demands and available resources are configured, interpreted, and mediated within specific organisational contexts. This review highlights the need for more temporally sensitive, context-specific, and resource-oriented research, and proposes an integrative framework to guide future research and support the design of healthier and sustainable digital workplaces.
Purpose: Digital transformation quickly reconstructs how organisations work globally, and the UAE is no exception. Technological progress and the COVID-19 pandemic have provided significant benefits such as adaptations, flexibility, and operational efficiency in rapid hybrid and remote teams. However, it has also aroused concern for employees' welfare, including questions such as the balance between work and life, technostress, and social isolation. The purpose of this research proposal is to check the impact of digital transformation on employee welfare in hybrid teams in UAE organisations.
Methodology: An approach with mixed methods will be used, including both average class trends and rigorous analysis and qualitative interviews to gain deep insight. The study will investigate how hybrid work settings affect job satisfaction, mental health, and productivity, while also discovering organisational strategies to reduce negative effects.
Findings: Conclusions are expected to contribute to limited empirical evidence in the context of the United Arab Emirates and provide practical recommendations to leaders to balance technological progress with a human-focused work environment. The study is in accordance with HBMSU research priority areas to handle hybrid/hybrid teams and promote welfare for the quality of life.
Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The insights achieved can support policy development and future research directions with a view to creating permanent, healthy, and digitally flexible jobs in the United Arab Emirates.
M. Parmar, Mahamed Ali· Journal of human resource &...· 0 citations
An integrative conceptual framework linking algorithmic workplace practices, ethical challenges, and employee well-being, moderated by organizational support, AI transparency, digital capability, and ethical leadership is contributed, alongside a practical framework for implementing sustainable, human-centered AI governance in digital workplaces.
Yulianto, Udin Saryono· Digital Theory, Culture &...· 0 citations
The rapid advancement of digital technologies has accelerated the transformation of flexible work culture, making it an essential strategy for enhancing employee well-being in sustainable organizations. This study aims to analyze how flexible work culture contributes to employee well-being during the sustainable global digital era. The research employs a qualitative library research approach using content analysis to synthesize information from scholarly books, peer-reviewed journals, research reports, and other relevant academic sources. The analysis is guided by the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) Theory to examine the relationship between organizational flexibility, digital transformation, and employee well-being. The findings indicate that flexible work culture positively influences employee well-being by increasing autonomy, work-life balance, job satisfaction, engagement, and organizational commitment when supported by adequate organizational resources. However, digital transformation may also generate challenges such as technostress, digital fatigue, and blurred work-life boundaries. Therefore, organizations should integrate flexible work culture with supportive leadership, digital capability, and sustainable human resource management to achieve long-term organizational resilience and employee well-being.
Komang Meydiana Hutama Putri· Journal of Mandalika Social...· 0 citations
Digitalization is rapidly changing industrial work systems. Amidst this globally experienced transformation process Finnish working life has faced slow productivity growth and increasing problems in employee well-being. Manufacturing and logistics sectors are under pressure to adopt new digital technologies, and change is often not managed in a sufficiently human-centered way. This study examines how digitalization is managed in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and how human factors and ergonomics (HFE) are addressed in this regard. This study is based on interviews with management and expert representatives from 55 SMEs. Data were analyzed using deductive, theory-driven content analysis, structured along dynamic capabilities (sensing, seizing, shifting) across the processes of management, design and HFE. Digital technologies were typically introduced on technological and economic grounds, while HFE was weakly embedded in routines and decision-making. Digital change procedures were often unclear; information on human work was fragmented and rarely used systematically. HFE competence was narrow and focused on physical ergonomics, with limited attention to cognitive and organizational factors. Training needs were seldom assessed in a structured way. Across sensing, seizing and shifting, employee input was common but rarely translated into systematic analysis, decision criteria, or lifecycle monitoring of usability, occupational safety, workload and well-being at work. Building on these findings, the study presents an initial version of a human-centered assessment framework to guide selection, design, piloting, training, and continuous follow-up after adopting new technology.
D. Nguyen, A. Reiman, J. Kaivo‐oja et al.· AHFE International· 0 citations
In digital transformation contexts, organizational change remains challenging especially when employee resistance is underestimated and change management efforts are fragmented. This study presents a systematic review on organizational change with a focus on resistance dynamics, change management frameworks, and the role of emerging technologies in technology-enabled transformation. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, 83 peer-reviewed articles were screened and analyzed using thematic and bibliometric approaches. This review integrates resistance to change, change management models, and digital transformation within a unified socio-technical perspective. The findings show that resistance is shaped by interrelated individual, organizational, and cultural factors. On the other hand, successful transformation is consistently associated with transparent communication, inclusive leadership, psychological safety, and cultural alignment. Moreover, the study shows that technologies such as gamification, AI-powered chatbots, and virtual and augmented reality can strengthen engagement, learning, and participation when embedded within broader change management processes. The bibliometric analysis identifies major intellectual trends, influential contributors, and emerging directions in the field. Overall, the study offers an integrated theoretical and practical foundation for understanding how human and technological factors jointly shape organizational change in digital transformation.
Ryan Alshaikh, Israa Al-Khafaf, Vian Ahmed et al.· International Journal of Eng...· 0 citations
Digital transformation is transforming the way organisations work; however, it is not just about the technology, it's about how people react to it. The human side of digital transformation is explored in this paper as it looks into the impact of human resource management (HRM) practices on employees' adaptability, and subsequently on employee performance. Based on the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) framework and technostress theory five hypotheses are formulated relating digital-oriented training and development, digital leadership, organizational support of technostress management, adaptability of employees, organizational agility and employee performance outcomes. The conceptual framework suggests that adaptability of employees as a mediating factor between HRM practices and performance, and organizational agility as a moderating factor between HRM practices and performance. To illustrate the analytical approach, the paper provides the results of a representative survey data (N = 350) that was analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, regression, and bootstrapping mediation and moderation analysis. Results suggest that there are significant relationships between digital-oriented HRM practices and employee adaptability, and between employee adaptability and employee performance, with organizational agility enhancing these relationships. The paper ends with theoretical and practical implications for HR professionals in digital change as well as the limitations and directions for future research.
Research Paper, Mashal Tariq, Muhammad Abdullah et al.· The social science· 0 citations
