Association between exposure to technological advances in the workplace and work engagement: a prospective cohort study

Abstract

Objectives. Our study measured the relation of exposure to technology advancement toward work engagement adjusted with personal and workplace factors. Methods. A nation-wide online survey longitudinal study was done in Japan. Sample was stratified to meet actual condition of Japanese workforce. Work engagement was measured with Japanese version Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-9. Exposure to technology advancement was measured using a single question with Likert scale response. Industry was categorized as likely to be replaced by automation. Linear regression was used for statistical analysis. Results. There were 16,629 participants. We found that exposure to technology advancement was associated with work engagement after adjustment with age, sex, education, income, industry characteristic and interaction variable between age and exposure to technology advancement (Coefficient 0.891, p<0.001). Since we observed the interaction effect between age and exposure to technology advancement, age group’s stratified linear regression analysis was made. The higher the age was, the lower coefficient we found. Although, significance disappeared after adjusted with baseline work engagement. Conclusion. Exposure to technology advancement wasn’t significantly associated with work engagement in longitudinal observation.