Working modalities have become more relevant since pandemic, which has generated an increase in hybrid work settings, has become a new normal in work-life, as long as the job functions allow it. In consequence, the role of empowering leadership gains more relevance. These emerging work settings require consideration of factors such as job demands and resources, empowering leadership, employee engagement, team member interactions, and the degree of technology use. Grounded in Social Exchange Theory and the Job Demands-Resources model, this study examines these dynamics by testing two hypotheses: team engagement mediates the positive relationship between empowering leadership and job satisfaction, and the degree of virtuality moderates this indirect relationship, such that the mediation is stronger at lower levels of virtuality. The study analyzed data from a sample of 121 participants distributed across 32 hybrid teams using a survey questionnaire. The proposed moderated mediation model was tested using the PROCESS. The findings support the significant association of empowering leadership with work engagement, which subsequently predicts job satisfaction
Consistent with the JDR model, engagement emerged as a significant mediator, highlighting how empowering leadership serves as a valuable resource in fostering employee satisfaction. Results supported both hypotheses: empowering leadership was positively associated with engagement, which in turn significantly predicted job satisfaction. Furthermore, the strength of this indirect effect decreased as the degree of virtuality increased, highlighting the contextual sensitivity of leadership processes in virtual work settings. These findings contribute to leadership and virtual team literature by underscoring the importance of adapting leadership strategies to sustain employee engagement and satisfaction across varying degrees of virtuality. These results emphasize the contextual sensitivity and complexity of leadership processes in modern, increasingly virtual organizations and highlight the importance of adapting leadership practices to maintain engagement and satisfaction in hybrid work environments.