Technology overload, job crafting, and work engagement: the moderating role of mindfulness

Abstract

Introduction Employees in digitally mediated workplaces may experience technology overload (TO) when digital information, communication demands, and system features exceed their capacity to respond. Although TO is generally associated with strain, prior findings are mixed, suggesting that employees’ appraisals of digital demands and their subsequent work adjustments may shape its consequences. Guided by the Challenge–Hindrance Demands Framework and Conservation of Resources theory, with stress appraisal treated as the linking process, this study examined the indirect association between TO and work engagement and the role of mindfulness in this process. Methods Three-wave survey data were collected from 438 employees in Chinese organizations. The analysis tested a sequential indirect pathway from TO to work engagement through energy depletion and job crafting. It also examined whether mindfulness altered the strength of these associations. Results TO was positively associated with subsequent energy depletion. Greater depletion was, in turn, associated with more job crafting, which was positively related to work engagement. The direct association between TO and work engagement was not statistically significant. Mindfulness more clearly strengthened the association between TO and energy depletion, a pattern consistent with greater awareness of strain. Its association with adaptive responses following depletion was also positive, but the evidence was weaker. Discussion The findings do not suggest that TO is beneficial or sustainable. Instead, they indicate that employees may try to adapt to overload by changing aspects of their work, particularly when they recognize the strain and retain sufficient regulatory resources to respond.