The Dark and Bright Sides of Digital Transformation: Quality of Work Life Needs and Employee Engagement Among University Employees

This study examined the associations between quality of work life (QWL) needs and employee engagement (WE), while investigating the moderating role of digital transformation (DT) among university employees. Guided by the theoretical framework of Social Exchange Theory (SET) and the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model, data were collected from 400 university employees using a structured online questionnaire and analyzed through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicate that aesthetic, economic, family, health and safety, and knowledge needs were positively associated with employee engagement, with health and safety needs demonstrating the strongest association. In contrast, social needs showed a significant negative association with employee engagement, whereas esteem needs and self-actualisation needs did not. Digital transformation significantly moderates the relationships between economic and family needs and employee engagement, as well as between self-actualisation needs and employee engagement. The results further suggest that higher levels of digital transformation were associated with weaker employee engagement among those reporting stronger self-actualisation needs. Overall, the findings contribute to a better understanding of how different QWL dimensions relate to employee engagement in digitally evolving university environments and suggest that the associations between QWL needs and employee engagement may vary across levels of digital transformation.