Digitalisation, Remote Work, and Perceived Job Security and Quality in Post-COVID-19 Portugal

This study investigates how pandemic-induced digitalisation, understood as the transition to remote work combined with the enforced use of digital tools and the reconfiguration of tasks and digital skills at the job level, has affected job security and job quality in Portugal. In 2022, a nationwide survey was administered to employees in companies registered in the country, yielding 2001 valid responses through a stratified random sampling strategy that ensured representation across different firm sizes. Structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to examine the relationships between digitalisation (independent construct) and perceived job quality and job security (dependent constructs), while controlling for demographic, organisational, and work-regime characteristics. Digitalisation had a significant positive effect on perceived job quality but no systematic effect on perceived job security. The results also revealed more positive perceptions of job security among women, employees in smaller firms, and those working on-site, whereas directors and workers in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area reported greater negative effects. These findings underscore the importance of contextual factors in shaping how workers experience digitalisation and provide evidence to inform public policies aimed at promoting job security and job quality in a post-COVID-19 labour market.