Unpacking the meeting load paradox: impacts on engagement and burnout across work arrangements

Purpose This paper aims to explore how workplace meetings, work arrangements and their interactions relate to employee engagement and burnout. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws from the conservation of resources theory to hypothesize the relationships between the antecedent and outcome variables. To test the hypotheses, this study analyzes a structural equation model based on panel survey data from 1,137 respondents. Findings This study finds that meeting load is positively related to burnout, but not to engagement in general. Also, relative to the hybrid work arrangement, engagement is lower in the in-person only arrangement and burnout is higher in the remote-only arrangement. As to the interaction effects, meeting load in the on-site work arrangement situation relates positively to both engagement and burnout. Practical implications The findings provide valuable insight for practitioners in an increasingly complex and competitive environment, as they can be factored into debates around policies for meetings and work arrangements. Originality/value The COVID-19 pandemic created a seismic shift in the way people work: it released an avalanche of workplace meetings; it normalized hybrid work arrangements; and it heightened attention on work outcomes. This study lies at the intersection of these three important trends.