Navigating the Work–Family Interface in the Digital Era: Challenges and Strategies

Introduction

Personnel Review is pleased to invite contributions for the Special Issue titled “Navigating the Work–Family Interface in the Digital Era: Challenges and Strategies.”

The rapid digitalization of work—driven by advances in information and communication technologies, remote and hybrid work arrangements, and GenAI-enabled systems—has fundamentally reshaped the boundaries between work and family domains. While digital tools provide unprecedented flexibility and autonomy, they also blur temporal and spatial boundaries, intensify role demands, and generate new forms of work–family conflict (Allen et al., 2015; Derks et al., 2014; Mordi et al., 2024; Wang et al., 2021). This transformation is especially salient in knowledge-intensive and digitally-mediated work contexts, where the “always-on” culture may foster constant connectivity, hinder psychological detachment, and undermine employee well-being and family functioning (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). At the same time, digitalization presents important opportunities for work–family enrichment. Flexible work arrangements and hybrid models can enhance individuals’ capacity to integrate work and family roles, consistent with resource-based perspectives on the work–home interface (ten Brummelhuis & Bakker, 2012), and recent qualitative evidence from hybrid work settings supports this view (Teng-Calleja et al., 2024). However, these benefits are not evenly distributed (McPhail et al., 2024). Emerging evidence suggests that technostress, digital surveillance, and inequalities in access to flexible work may exacerbate existing disparities, particularly along gender and occupational lines (Chesley, 2014; Hsu et al., 2024; Kossek & Lautsch, 2018; Wang et al., 2024). As digital work continues to expand, the absence of effective strategies for managing work–family boundaries may normalize excessive work intrusions into family life, ultimately challenging the sustainability of modern work systems.

Furthermore, the recent wave of return-to-office mandates by major organizations and governments worldwide has reignited debates about the contested value of flexible work (Knowles, 2025; McPhail et al., 2024), underscoring the need for rigorous research on how policy reversals affect employees’ boundary management strategies and family well-being. At the same time, the mainstreaming of GenAI in everyday work introduces qualitatively new challenges—including cognitive offloading, accelerated work pace, and algorithmic task allocation—that may reshape work–family boundaries in ways not yet captured by existing theoretical frameworks (Chuang et al., 2025; Wu et al., 2024; Xiao et al., 2025). We also encourage research adopting dyadic and family-systems perspectives that examine how digital work demands cross over between partners and spill over to other family members, particularly in dual-earner and dual-career households (Brumley et al., 2024).

By foregrounding the challenges and strategies associated with the digital work–family interface, this Special Issue seeks to advance timely and evidence-based insights into how individuals and organizations can navigate increasingly blurred boundaries between work and family domains. We encourage authors to clearly articulate the theoretical contributions of their work (e.g., extending boundary theory, role theory, work–home resources model, or socio-technical systems perspectives) and to highlight practical implications for organizations, policymakers, and employees. Papers offering cross-disciplinary perspectives or comparative insights—such as examining digital work–family dynamics across cultural or institutional contexts—are particularly welcome. Ultimately, this Special Issue seeks to catalyze a rigorous academic conversation that will help organizations and employees proactively navigate the opportunities and challenges of digital work—ensuring that technological advancements support sustainable well-being and effective work–family integration rather than undermine them.

List of Topic Areas

Challenges in the Digital Work–Family Interface

• Blurring of work–family boundaries in remote and hybrid work environments
• Emerging challenges in time–spatially flexible work
• GenAI use and digital overload, and their spillover effects on family life
• “Always-on” work cultures and impacts on recovery and well-being
• Algorithmic management and implications for job autonomy and control
• Digital surveillance and privacy concerns in home-based work
• Gender inequality in digitally mediated work arrangements

Strategies for Managing Work–Family Dynamics

• Individual boundary management strategies in digital contexts
• GenAI literacy and self-regulation in managing role demands
• Leadership behaviors that facilitate work–family integration
• HR practices mitigating digital work–family conflict
• Designing technology to support boundary control and well-being
• Time–spatial crafting as a boundary management strategy
• Work (re)design and home (re)design strategies to re-vitalize work and family life

Work–Family Enrichment and Opportunities

• Positive spillover via flexible digital work arrangements
• Digitally-mediated tools supporting family engagement
• Hybrid work models and work–family enrichment
• Reconceptualizing integration in the digital era
• Micro-transitions between work and family roles across time and space

Contextual and Cross-Level Perspectives

• Cross-cultural differences in digital work–family norms
• Individual differences in digital work–family strategies
• Institutional and policy influences
• Multi-level (individual–team–organization) dynamics
• Longitudinal changes and causal effects in work–family relationships
• Within-person variability in boundary management across days and situations

Submissions Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/prev

Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/pr

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”.

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Key Deadlines

Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 20/05/2026

Closing date for manuscripts submission: 30/11/2026