| Abstract [eng] |
In recent years, industrial organizations have increasingly adopted advanced digital technologies associated with Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0. While technological progress is often linked to efficiency, automation and process optimization, the Industry 5.0 perspective emphasizes a more human-centred approach, in which technologies should support employee well-being, sustainable organizational development and better work experience. Therefore, this thesis addresses the question of how the technological application of Industry 5.0 tools affects employees quality of work life and what mediating role digital empowerment plays in this relationship. The aim of the thesis is to assess the impact of Industry 5.0 tools on employees quality of work life by evaluating the mediating role of digital empowerment. In this study, the application of Industry 5.0 tools is operationalized through the level of implementation of 12 advanced technologies in organizations. Digital empowerment is understood as employees perception of digitally enabling conditions created by the organization, while quality of work life is measured using the QWLS-16 instrument. The empirical part of the study was carried out using a quantitative cross-sectional survey. The final statistical analysis was based on 265 responses from employees working in the Lithuanian industrial sector. The data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics, and the mediation model was tested using the PROCESS macro. Reliability analysis showed high internal consistency of the constructs: Cronbach’s alpha was 0.917 for the Industry 5.0 technology application scale, 0.982 for digital empowerment and 0.959 for the QWLS-16 scale. The results showed that the technological application of Industry 5.0 tools had a statistically significant positive effect on digital empowerment and, at the level of the total effect, a positive effect on quality of work life. Digital empowerment also had a statistically significant positive effect on quality of work life. The mediation analysis confirmed a significant indirect effect through digital empowerment (B = 0.8382, 95% CI [0.7108; 0.9734]). These findings indicate that the positive impact of technology application on quality of work life mainly occurs when the organization creates digitally enabling conditions perceived by employees. The direct effect of technology application became negative after controlling for digital empowerment, suggesting that technology implementation without sufficient enabling conditions may be associated with additional work demands. Since the study is cross-sectional, the findings are interpreted as statistically supported relationships rather than definitive evidence of causality. |
