Job strain, work-family conflict and job satisfaction among employees in advertising agencies

Abstract

In the last decade, advertising agency industry has experienced an enormous growth prompted by the structural and technological advances. According to The European Advertising and Media Forecast, from 1990 to 2000, in the assembly of the countries of the European Union, advertising investment has increased by 39,7%, and a total figure of business that reaches, of average, slightly more than the 1% of the GDP of the ancient 15 EU countries. The European Association of Communication Agencies estimates that the number of employees in the European sector of the commercial communication is at present around 1.500.000. In Spain, advertising agency industry may be described as a growing and very competitive sector. Work in advertising and media agencies can be highly stressful. Employees in this sector have to meet deadlines, work long hours and must deal with demands from clients. As a result of that, achieving a balance between work and family may become a challenge for many employees in this sector. However, research about the relationships between job strain with levels of work-family conflict and job satisfaction is scarce. This study is aimed to fulfill the gap in the existing knowledge on this research field.

The objective of this paper is to explore relationships between job stress and both work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict and the influence of these variables upon job satisfaction and organizational commitment. These variables are integrated into a model that includes job autonomy. Specifically, using structural equation modelling, these associations are tested.

Data were collected from 276 parent employees (account, creative, media, research and support services) from several advertising agencies in Spain. Participants completed a survey with questions about demographic and career information, several sources of pression, job satisfaction, job autonomy, organizational commitment and work-family conflict (WFC)/family work-conflict (FWC).

The sources of pression (managerial role) predicted WFC, FWC, job satisfaction and organizational commitment, sources of pression (non supportive organizational climate) was a significant predictor of FWC and job satisfaction, job strain related to professional career predicted FWC and job satisfaction. Job autonomy predicted WFC, FWC and job satisfaction. Finally, relationships were found between WFC and FWC.

The fit indices of the structural equation model (AMOS, version 5) used to test the relationships proposed were very acceptable: the value for chi-square was 19,44 with 14 degrees of freedom (p=0,149) and comparative fit index (CFI)=0,992.