The widespread shift to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated a debate on its impact on employee satisfaction. Despite assumptions that greater flexibility and autonomy would inherently boost job satisfaction, research findings have been inconsistent. A key mechanism that might help explain these mixed outcomes is organisational culture. This study, based on unique linked employer-employee panel data, examines how various dimensions of corporate culture are associated with job satisfaction among remote and on-site workers. The findings reveal that working from home (WFH) enhances job satisfaction, particularly within companies characterised by weaker organisational cultures in the area of communication, leadership and supervision. Importantly, this effect varies significantly by gender: men predominantly benefit from WFH in weaker cultural contexts, while women experience increased satisfaction primarily in organisations with strong supportive cultures. Personality traits, including extraversion and agreeableness, further moderate these relationships. These results highlight the importance of aligning remote work policies with organisational culture to effectively address gender differences and ensure broad-based improvements in employee satisfaction and workplace well-being.
I thank Piotr Lewandowski, Iga Magda, and Maciej Albinowski for their comments. The research was funded in whole by the National Science Centre, Poland, project No. 2022/45/N/HS4/02533 . For the purpose of Open Access, the author has applied a CC-BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) version arising from this submission. The paper uses IAB LPP survey data. The usual disclaimers apply. All errors are mine.