Work–life balance in the construction industry: a bibliometric and narrative review
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
ISSN: 0969-9988
Article publication date: 7 July 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The nature of construction works has a negative impact on physical, mental and emotional well-being and makes it difficult for the construction industry to attack and retain its workforce. The current study seeks to integrate the current knowledge focused on work–life balance (WLB) in the industry into an understandable whole.
Design/methodology/approach
An interpretivist philosophical approach was adopted using a bibliometric review and a narrative review of existing studies from both Scopus and Google databases. The Visualisation of Similarities viewer (VOSviewer) was used to prepare co-occurrence maps from the bibliographic data garnered.
Findings
The study reveals that the prominent factors influencing the WLB of the construction workforce are organizational culture, salary earned, heavy workload, long working hours and inflexible working time. The recent WLB discourse is on organisational commitment, job satisfaction and workplace dynamics. While WLB areas for further exploration are job stress, safety performance, employee attrition and an ageing workforce. Meanwhile, Africa and South America are still lagging in WLB research.
Practical implications
The findings reported here will assist stakeholders in identifying appropriate WLB initiatives that can be used to improve the well-being of the construction workforce. Also, the gaps in knowledge for further research were highlighted.
Originality/value
The findings reveal current trends and a road map for future studies on WLB in construction. It also reveals prominent factors influencing the WLB of workers in the construction industry.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Erratum: It has come to the attention of the publisher that the article, Adah, C.A., Aghimien, D.O. and Oshodi, O. (2023), “Work–life balance in the construction industry: a bibliometric and narrative review”, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-02-2023-0150 listed the incorrect affiliations for authors Olalekan Oshodi and Douglas Omoregie Aghimien. Both author affiliations included ‘cidb Centre of Excellence, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa’ in error, this has now been corrected to Olalekan Oshodi - Department of Built Environment, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK and Douglas Omoregie Aghimien - School of Art, Design and Architecture, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. These errors were introduced in the production process, the publisher sincerely apologises for this error and for any inconvenience caused.
Citation
Adah, C.A., Aghimien, D.O. and Oshodi, O. (2023), "Work–life balance in the construction industry: a bibliometric and narrative review", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-02-2023-0150
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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