Negotiating the boundaries: dual-career couples and hybrid work

Purpose This study explores the boundary management tactics that dual-career couples use to navigate the increasingly blurred lines between work and home life caused by hybrid working arrangements. Design/methodology/approach We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 32 individuals (16 dual-career heterosexual couples) to investigate the strategies employed, both individually and jointly, to manage work–home boundaries. This study extends beyond an individual-level analysis to consider boundary management as a couple-level experience. Findings The study confirmed established boundary management tactics (i.e. temporal, physical, behavioural and communicative tactics) and identified a new category: psychological tactics. The efficacy of these boundary management tactics influences the collective work–nonwork and career outcomes for the couples involved. Research limitations/implications This study focuses exclusively on dual-career heterosexual couples. Future studies should thus include more diverse couple configurations, cover a broader industry range and incorporate the perspectives of children in the household. Practical implications We offer actionable recommendations for individuals, couples and employers to support sustainable and egalitarian hybrid working practices. Longitudinal research is also further required to examine how hybrid work affects dual-career couples in the long term. Originality/value This study extends boundary management research by introducing a couple-level analysis. Conducted in the post-pandemic era, in which hybrid working is expected to continue reshaping the future of work, this study highlights the unique challenges that dual-career couples face in hybrid working contexts. It also extends existing work–nonwork and career literature by deepening our understanding of both general and gendered dynamics in hybrid working couples as they manage dual-career and family demands.