Balancing Demands and Resources: Exploring the Impact of Workload, Work-Life Balance and Technological Adaptation on Job Satisfaction Among Malaysian Academics

Based on the Job Demands--Resources (JD-R) model, this study examines the inter-relationships of workload, work-life balance, technological adaptation, and job satisfaction among academic staff members in Malaysian universities. Within this context, workload is considered a job demand that may impose pressure on individual well-being and reduce satisfaction, whereas work-life balance is regarded as a useful job resource and mediating variable, allowing individuals to balance conflicting work and non-work demands. Technological adaptation, as the ability and willingness of academic staff to work with digital tools, is conceptualized as a personal resource and a moderator that can strengthen the relationship between work-life balance and job satisfaction. The research design is a quantitative one, where a self-completion online questionnaire would be sent via stratified random sampling to achieve a wide representation in terms of the type of universities and field of study. Regression and moderated mediation will be applied to analyze data. This research helps to advance the theoretical understanding of the JD-R model by investigating the negative influence of high workload on job satisfaction, the mediating role of work-life balance, and the enhancing effects of technological adaptation on the relationship between work-life balance and job satisfaction. It is also an invaluable resource to institutions of higher learning interested in how they can manage academic workload, enhance digital competency, and streamline staff well-being in institutions that are increasingly becoming technology-oriented.