This position paper brings together recent and emerging developments in the field of presenteeism. A critical synthesis of the evidence is needed due to persisting conceptual and methodological challenges as well as the increased volume of research in the field. This paper integrates emerging evidence and critical thinking into three areas: (1) concept, (2) measurement and methodological issues, and (3) the context of presenteeism. First, due to the variety of existing definitions, competing understandings, as well as the notion of positive presenteeism, it is important to reconsider the notion of presenteeism. Second, it is important to reflect on the measurement of the act of presenteeism and the productivity loss associated with that. Third, following the call to investigate presenteeism in specific contexts, it is important to explain the social, occupational, cross-cultural aspects, as well as the contemporary workplace changes. Based on this critical synthesis, we conclude by identifying recommendations for future research on presenteeism.

This position paper presents the state-of-the art of the field of workplace commitment. Yet, for workplace commitment to stay relevant, it is necessary to look beyond current practice and to extrapolate trends to envision what will be needed in future research. Therefore, the aim of this paper is twofold, first, to consolidate our current understanding of workplace commitment in contemporary work settings and, second, to look into the future by identifying and discussing avenues for future research. Representative of the changing nature of work, we explicitly conceptualize workplace commitment in reference to (A) “Temporary work”, and (B) “Cross-boundary work”. Progressing from these two themes, conceptual, theoretical and methodological advances of the field are discussed. The result is the identification of 10 key paths of research to pursues, a shared agenda for the most promising and needed directions for future research and recommendations for how these will translate into practice.

Based on the job demands-resources model and role conflict theories, we developed and tested hypotheses to elucidate the consequences that work-to-life and life-to-work conflicts have on job satisfaction and how affective, normative, and continuance professional commitment moderate these relationships. Using data collected from German academics, our results confirmed theoretical assumptions that work-to-life conflict and continuance commitment act as stressors that reduce job satisfaction, while affective commitment serves as a resource, as it lowers job satisfaction directly and buffers the negative impact of a work-to-life conflict on job satisfaction. Neither life-to-work conflict nor normative commitment had a direct impact on job satisfaction, but their interaction had a positive effect on job satisfaction. A groupwise analysis of academics with temporary positions and academics with permanent positions revealed that affective commitment was a moderator only in association with work-to-life conflict among temporarily employed academics and that normative and continuance commitment were moderators in association with the life-to-work conflict among permanently employed academics. We discuss the implications of these results for theory and policy.

This study explored (virtual) sickness presenteeism in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using qualitative data from 505 members of the German working population, it investigates how working from home, which rapidly increased because of the COVID-19 outbreak, is perceived with regard to the pandemic. The study explored how this development affects the decision to show absence or presence in case of illness. More than 1,300 responses to different open-end questions by presenteeists and non-presenteeists were analyzed. The findings suggest that many previously identified reasons for deciding for or against presenteeism are still applicable. However, noteworthy differences with regard to both telecommuting and the pandemic occurred. Virtual sickness presenteeism seems to be strongly encouraged by the possibility to adjust working conditions at home. Additionally, COVID-19 has affected the perceptions of health at work. The study contributes to a more in-depth understanding of (virtual) sickness presenteeism during a global pandemic. Six propositions for future research are developed, and the importance of context for the consequences of virtual sickness presenteeism is discussed.

Organizations increasingly implement AI for career development to enhance efficiency. However, there are concerns about employees’ acceptance of AI and the literature on employee acceptance of AI is still in its infancy. To address this research gap, integrating justice theory, we investigate the effects of the deciding entity (human, human and AI, and AI) and the impact of the data source (internal data, external data), on employees’ reactions. Using a scenario-based between-subject design, displaying a common situation in organizations (N = 280) and an additional causal-chain-approach (N = 157), we examined whether a decrease of human involvement in decision making diminishes employees’ perceived fairness and satisfaction with the career development process and increases their perceived privacy intrusion. Although we also considered other data sources to moderate the proposed relationships, we found no support for interaction effects. Finally, fairness and privacy intrusion mediated the influence of the deciding entity and data source on turnover intention and employer attractiveness, while satisfaction with the process did not. By addressing how the employees react to AI in career development–showing the negative reactions, our study holds considerable relevance for research and practice.