Work engagement and mental well-being in the ICT age: investigating the role of job resources among white-collar workers in Europe

Purpose In the knowledge economy, employees are experiencing increasing digitalization of their work. The present study focuses on the implications of information and communication technology (ICT) for job resources and employee outcomes in the European worker population. Our twofold aim is to compare the levels of key psychosocial job resources and investigate their relative contribution in predicting work engagement and mental well-being across worker groups whose work environments differ in ICT salience. Design/methodology/approach We used data from the 2021 edition of the European Working Conditions Survey. Our sample consisted of 20,347 white-collar workers from 36 countries. Mean-level comparisons and regression-based modelling, including relative weight analyses, were performed. Findings Job autonomy and learning new things differed in mean levels across the low, medium, and high ICT salience groups. Opportunity to show competence was the strongest overall predictor of work engagement, while trust and cooperation climate was a top predictor of mental well-being. The relative importance of several job resources slightly varied depending on ICT salience, especially in the work engagement model. Originality/value Our findings support the consistently beneficial role of psychosocial job resources in promoting well-being across diverse contexts of ICT use. Moreover, by identifying the most salient job resources for different ICT salience groups, we inform research and practice on potential ways to foster workers’ healthy functioning in times of technological expansion.