This research analyses how instrumental and symbolic variables influence employee engagement in the context of telework. The conceptual model tested includes, among the instrumental variables, commuting time, distance, and cost, and, among the symbolic variables, autonomy, interpersonal relationships, and saudade for work, while also considering the moderating role of job crafting.
The study was conducted in two complementary phases: a qualitative, inductive stage based on interviews, and a quantitative stage, through an online questionnaire randomly administered to 295 respondents, who were predominantly female, held a bachelor's degree, lived in the central region of Portugal, and were currently working under an on-site regime.
The results show that both commuting time and, above all, saudade of work play an important role in explaining employee engagement — with saudade being a variable that has, so far, been largely unexplored in the organizational context. In addition, the results highlight the moderating role of job crafting in these relationships.
This study contributes to the understanding of engagement in telework contexts, highlighting the importance of integrating both objective and symbolic dimensions, and offering practical implications for human resource management policies in remote work.