An analysis of work-family conflict resolution in the IT industry for employee sustainability

Work-Family Conflict is the concept that has become very prevalent in these uncertain times of pandemic and in these new working styles and setups. The study aimed to understand the response of IT employees to work-family conflicts faced by them during the Covid-19 pandemic giving insights about employee sustainability. It sought to investigate the relationship between the work-family conflicts they experienced and the organisational structure of their workplaces. A descriptive study was conducted using convenience sampling and a total of 132 complete responses were used as the sample data to perform the analysis. IT employees face a considerable amount of work-family conflict. There is a significant difference between work-family conflict faced by IT employees in different working setups, so it becomes important to manage work and family in a situation of remote working during an unprecedented time of the pandemic. For the resolution of work-family conflict, IT employees deal with this conflict differently in different family setups. In the coming times of Hybrid working, it becomes all the more important to understand how employees are resolving this work-family conflict and what additional steps can be taken to further alleviate the situation leading to employee sustainability in the long run.


Introduction
Work-Family Conflict as a concept has been studied well in the past also but this is one such concept that needs continuous research as it is a concept that concerns a person's work life and personal life.It deals with the awareness of a person's knowledge of the conflicting situations faced by him in his life.As both personal and professional domains of a person's life are very crucial so it is very important to study them regularly because the work domain and personal domain are changing at a very rapid pace.To keep pace with these changes, it is important to study the concept time and again in light of new developments for sustainable future.Covid-19 Pandemic was one of the most unimaginable events to happen and it brought with it a plethora of changes that changed the course of life for everyone in the world.These changes made us think of an alternate way of doing work and living life for a better and sustainable future.This new situation makes it imperative to study the work and family domain of a person in a new light and understand a person's situation and knowledge of Work-Family Conflict and how it can be resolved.

Literature Review
[1] examined the causes and effects of work-family conflict.These variables were divided into four groups: sociodemographic variables, situational variables, behavioural variables, and health-related variables.The research's conclusions aid in developing strategies to lessen the detrimental impacts of work-family conflict.
[2] investigated the HR approach to effectively handle the work-from-home culture that resulted from the COVID-19 lockdown.Work-family conflict resulted from the blurring of the lines between work and home caused by working from home.Future study should adequately analyse and handle this work-family conflict because the new work culture is here to stay for the foreseeable future.
[3] investigated work-family conflict and social support and discovered that social support at work, such as collaboration among coworkers and family support, is a significant influence in work-family conflict.An employee is more insulated from the negative effects of work-family conflict the more social support they have.A cushion is provided by the degree of social support against the effects of work-family support.
[4] studied the impact of work-family conflict and family-work conflict on their career and family satisfaction, researchers studied female Indian IT employees.Relationship psychological health was a mediating factor in this study.It was discovered that whereas family-work conflict is more closely associated to family satisfaction, work-family conflict is more closely related to job satisfaction.Job and family satisfaction are both highly impacted by the mediating variable.
[5] studied Indian women working in the IT sector to determine the causes of work-family conflict.They used exploratory factor analysis to identify the three main causes of workfamily conflict, which were in the following order: job weariness, work-thought interference, and perceived workload.They also looked at how this conflict affected the role conflict's time dimension.
[6] carried out a meta-analysis of the causes of work-family conflict.They identified two distinct categories of conflict: family-work conflict (FWC) and work-family conflict (WFC).According to research, work-family conflict is more common than family-work conflict since job responsibilities are prioritised over family responsibilities.
[7] investigated the causes of work-family conflict among Japanese men and women and discovered that work-related factors like job demands and job control and family-related factors like family expectations and support all play a role.
[8] undertook a meta-analytic assessment of work-family conflict and its causes.It was discovered that personality traits-rather than socio-demographic factors-are the most significant driver of work-family conflict.Additionally, it was discovered that work-family conflict is impacted by family support, which in the current societal environment provides for an interesting case to research.
[9] researched work-family conflict and its causes.It was discovered that women experienced more of it than men did.To some part, this can be since women perform more roles than men do, and they juggle these responsibilities more frequently.Separate studies of family-work and work-family conflict were conducted.Females are bearing the brunt of this conflict more than males do in both types of conflict.
[10] examined the causes of friction between family and job obligations.Work-family conflict is "a type of inter-role conflict in which the role pressures from the work and family domains are mutually incompatible in some respects," (HA): There is a significant difference between IT employees' resolution of Work-Family Conflict in three different family setup groups: Nuclear Family, Extended Family and Shared Accommodation.

Research Methodology
The goal of the current study is to comprehend how the levels of work-family conflict varies among the various working arrangements that are now in use.Validity of respondent data was gauged using Face Validity and also the scales used for data collection are standardized tools.In totality, satisfactory level of Validity of respondent data was established.

Objective 1
To study the association between the Working Setup of IT employees and their Work-Family Conflict Score, One Way ANOVA is applied as there are three categories of Independent Variable i.e., Working Setup and it was aimed to study the association of Working setup (Independent variable) on Work-Family Conflict (Dependent Variable).
Before applying One Way ANOVA, its assumptions need to be met and the Normality of data needs to be there for all categories of IDV and at the same time Homogeneity of Variance should also be checked.
For checking the Normality of data for all the categories of IDV 1 sample KS Test is done in IBM SPSS 20 and it was found out that the respondent data for all the three categories of Independent Variable is Normal.Hence both the assumptions of Parametric Test i.e.One Way ANOVA are fulfilled and Hypothesis Testing is done for checking the association between the Working Setup of IT employees and their Work-Family Conflict Score using One Way ANOVA.Denominator df = 129

Inference
Mean Work-Family Conflict Score of at least one of the categories of Working Setup of IT Employees differ significantly from the rest in their mean Work-Family Conflict Scores.

Objective 2
To understand IT employees' resolution of Work-Family Conflict in different family setups, One Way ANOVA is applied as there are three categories of Independent Variable i.e.Family Setup and it was aimed to understand IT employees' resolution of Work-Family Conflict (Dependent Variable) in different Family setup (Independent variable).
Before applying One Way ANOVA, its assumptions need to be met and the Normality of data needs to be there for all categories of IDV and at the same time Homogeneity of Variance should also be checked.
For checking the Normality of data for all the categories of IDV 1 sample KS Test is done in IBM SPSS 20 and it was found out that the respondent data for all the three categories of Independent Variable is Normal. ,

Research Findings
The analysis of respondent data reveals that IT employees face Work-Family Conflict but it varies among different working setups as being implemented due to the pandemic.The respondents in the present study were majorly working from Home but with the easing of restrictions being imposed due to the pandemic, companies are moving towards a combination of Work from Office and Work from Home called the new setup a Hybrid Style of Working.The companies are looking at ways for a more sustainable method of working for the future.The employees are also looking at more sustainable ways for the coming uncertain future times.A few respondents in the present study are currently working in this Hybrid working setup and they also face Work-Family Conflict.Considering Hybrid Working as the future of Working style, it is advised that the causes and effects of workfamily conflict be considered when formulating policies to reduce its negative impact and ensure that employees' personal and professional life are balanced.Organisational and culture should be employee-friendly in order to resolve work-family conflicts, and supervisor assistance is crucial to this process.

Recommendation & Conclusion
Based on the results of the current study, it is advised that work-family conflict be thoroughly researched for the IT industry considering numerous other issues.Organisational policies and culture should be employee-friendly in order to resolve work-family conflicts, and supervisor assistance is crucial to this process.On the personal front, family support is equally important.Clear communication about work role expectations and a blend of flexibility and autonomy helps in making things work out in a balanced way.In the end, it can be concluded that Work-Family Conflict is an area of interest in the present dynamic environment and in the times to come for a sustainable future.It is an ever-evolving concept as it deals with the personal and professional domains of every working individual.It needs constant research and the present study can be used to put some light on this area in the context of emerging working trends and eventually leading to employee sustainability and overall sustainable future.

Limitations
The present study does not tell which working setup faces more conflict than the other although it highlights the difference in Work-Family Conflict faced by IT employees in different working setups and it becomes the most important limitation of this study.For having a deeper understanding of this area, post hoc analysis needs to be done which can be a premise for further research.Similarly different family setups of IT employees' have different Work-Family Conflict Resolution but which family setup resolves this conflict in the best possible way is another area that needs more research.Also, the sample is not equally divided into single-earning families and dual-earning families so a thorough comparative analysis could not be done in the present study.

1 . 1 (
To investigate the relationship between the Working Setup of IT employees and their Work-Family Conflict Score 2. To understand IT employees' resolution of Work-Family Conflict in different family setups for employee sustainability H0): There is no significant difference between the mean Work-Family Conflict Score of IT employees in three different work setup groups i.e Working from the Office, Working From Home, Hybrid Working (HA): There is a significant difference between the mean Work-Family Conflict Score of IT employees in three different work setup Groups i.e., Working from the Office, Working from Home, Hybrid Working2.1.2.Hypothesis 2 (H0):There is no significant difference between IT employees' resolution of Work-Family Conflict in three different family setup groups: Nuclear Family, Extended Family and Shared Accommodation.
/doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20234300118585 430 [12,[16]ily [18]lict Resolution was understood with the help of interventions mentioned in[12,[16][17][18].IBM SPSS 20 was used to analyze the data.Oneway ANOVA was used to study the association between the Working Setup of IT employees and their Work-Family Conflict Score.•45.54% of respondents were females and 54.54% of respondents were males.•89.39% of respondents were in the age group of 25-35 years followed by 7.57% of respondents in the age group of 35-45 years.•75.75% of respondents were married whereas 24.24% of respondents were unmarried.•59% of married respondents do not have any child, 31% of married respondents have a single child and 10% of married respondents have two children.•80.30% of respondents are living in a nuclear family setup.•6.81% of respondents are living in a joint family setup.•18% of married respondents are single-earning members.•82% of married respondents are dual-earning members.•66.66% of respondents are working from home, 27.27% of respondents are working in a hybrid work setup whereas just 6.06% of respondents are working from the office.
[11][12][13][14][15]s to investigate how different family setup groups of IT personnel resolve work-family conflicts for longer-lasting employee sustainability.It is a descriptive study conducted to gain insight into IT employees' Work-Family Conflict scores and how they vary in the times of working from Home/ Remote Working and Hybrid/ Flexible Working in comparison to traditional Working from Office.Also, how IT employees resolve this Work-Family Conflict makes an important case to be studied for better employee sustainability.In the present study, a total of 132 complete responses to the online survey using Google Forms were used as the sample data.Role Conflict Score was measured on a 5-point Likert scale called "The Interpole Conflict Scale by[11][12][13][14][15].

Table 3 .
Tests of NormalityFor checking the Homogeneity of Variance, Levene's Test is applied, and it was found out that p-value of Levene Test statistic is > 0.05 i.e., Homogeneity of Variance is there, and Equal Variances are assumed.

Table 4 .
Test of Homogeneity of Variances

Table 5
It was found out that F obt > F table, therefore the null hypothesis is not accepted.

Table 7 .
Tests of Normality *.This is a lower bound of the true significance a. Lilliefors Significance Correction For checking the Homogeneity of Variance, Levene's Test is applied, and it was found out that p-value of Levene Test statistic is > 0.05 i.e., Homogeneity of Variance is there, and Equal Variances are assumed.

Table 8 .
Test of Homogeneity of VariancesHence both the assumptions of the Parametric Test i.e.One Way ANOVA are fulfilled and Hypothesis Testing is done for understanding IT employees' resolution of Work-Family Conflict in different family setups using One Way ANOVA.way ANOVA revealed that there was a statistically significant difference in IT employees' resolution of Work-Family Conflict of one of the categories of family setups from the rest of the groups.