The complex effects of job complexity: A meta-analysis of job complexity and employee outcomes

Job complexity has been identified as an important characteristic of work due to its potential to impact a wide range of employee outcomes. However, the literature on job complexity is theoretically fragmented and empirically inconclusive. We therefore conduct a meta-analysis to synthesize and extend our understanding of the relationship between job complexity and employee outcomes. We develop and test a model of job complexity that proposes three types of job complexity (job resource-complexity, job challenge-complexity, and job hindrance-complexity) and that each has a distinct pattern of effects on employee outcomes. Based on 71 studies (k = 121 effect sizes), analysis confirmed job resource-complexity to be positively associated with task performance, learning, and well-being, and negatively associated with job strain, whereas job challenge-complexity was positively associated with task performance, learning, well-being, and job strain. A lack of data precluded analysis of job hindrance-complexity. Our study advances theoretical understanding of job complexity, provides the first empirical synthesis of different types of job complexity and employee outcomes, and shows that the effects of job complexity differ according to the type of job complexity. The paper concludes by drawing out implications for theory, empirical research, and practice.