Family-Work Conflict and Work-from-Home Productivity: Do Work Engagement and Self-efficacy Mediate?

This study proposes a model to explore the relationship between family–work conflict and work-from-home productivity based on role conflict and resource drain theories as well as the family-work-conflict literature. After data cleaning, 785 valid cases were analysed. SPSS 22 and AMOS 20 were used to test the descriptive statistics, reliability, and validity, and the proposed hypotheses were evaluated using Process Macro (Model 5). The findings found that family-work-conflict negatively affected work engagement, self-efficacy, and work-from-home productivity. The negative effect of family-work-conflict on work-from-home productivity was stronger for employees with more work-from-home days than those with fewer. The partial mediation of work engagement and self-efficacy was established. This study contributes to the understanding of remote work productivity during the pandemic, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprise employees. Managerially, the research has practical implications for employers, managers, and the government. Employers should adopt family-friendly policies and offer training programs to enhance work-from-home productivity. Employers need to pay extra attention to their female employees' work and family responsibilities and guarantee positive working outcomes through online surveys and two-way communication strategies.