Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic, which caused social isolation and forced everyone
to work from home, started impacting Sri Lanka in March 2020, causing
many sectors to opt for remote working. In response to the situation, the
authorities made school education also remote, resulting in stakeholders
facing many challenges. The subject of the study focuses on the job
satisfaction of government teachers. Past studies have revealed multiple
factors that influence the job satisfaction of teachers who work from home
that include Information Technology (IT) infrastructure, work-related
stress, and safety. The pilot survey revealed that IT infrastructure impacts
the job satisfaction of teachers who work from home and gender may act as
a moderating variable. Despite its importance, there have been fewer studies
in this research area, especially focusing on the lockdown period. Based on
positivism as the ontological approach, the study followed the quantitative
methodology as the research strategy. An online questionnaire with 34
questions was used as the instrument to collect data. The stratified sampling
technique was used and data were collected from 380 teachers in the state
sector schools of the western province of Sri Lanka. Further, structural
equation modelling was used as the main analysis technique. Findings
showed that IT infrastructure issues and work-related stress have a direct
significant positive impact on job satisfaction, and it is moderated by gender.
The findings revealed that the study will be useful to improve the job
satisfaction of teachers as working from home will continue as a practice for
various reasons despite the gradual disappearance of the pandemic.
