The Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Job Demands and Job Control

Abstract: Introduction: Using the job demands control support (JDCS) model, we examined the impact of introducing information and communication technologies (ICTs) on the working conditions of civil servants in a major public institution in Gabon. We hypothesized that perceived ICT usability moderates the temporal beneficial/detrimental (dis)continuity of job demands and job control before and after their introduction. For exploratory and complementary purposes, we also investigated changes in social support. Methods: To this end, we conducted a quantitative two-wave longitudinal study of 162 civil servants, with measures before and after the introduction of ICTs for one subsample, and compared them to another subsample for which ICTs had not already been introduced (control group). Results: At baseline (T1), the two subsamples were similar regarding JDCS variables; at follow-up (T2), civil servants without ICTs reported, on average, a slight increase in job demand and a strong decrease in job control, whereas civil servants with newly introduced ICTs reported unchanged levels of job demand and job control. Similar observations, albeit of a lesser magnitude, occurred for social support. The analyses revealed that perceived usability marginally moderated the temporal stability of job control, whereas high job control at T1 favored similarly high job control at T2 only when ICTs were perceived as very highly usable. Discussion and Conclusion: The discussion addresses the possible existence of a downward social comparison effect for civil servants without ICTs, suggests the likely role of coping strategies to explain the mixed results, examines the study contributions and limitations, and delineates practical implications.