Abstract
Work plays a crucial role in individuals' lives, providing opportunities for economic progression, social connections, personal accomplishment and life satisfaction. The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a global shift in the nature of work, with mass remote working becoming more common. Remote work, or the arrangement where employees work outside the employer's premises, gained momentum to curb the spread of the virus. This shift in the nature of work was particularly significant in the education sector in South Africa. The sector transitioned predominantly to digital platforms, prompting the remote working of all administrative and academic staff. This study aimed to investigate whether remote work predicted subjective well-being and to assess whether job satisfaction moderated the relationship between remote work and subjective well-being. The research employed a quantitative approach and utilised a cross-sectional survey design. A total of 87 employees from a Private Higher Education Institution located in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa formed the sample. The study findings revealed that remote work frequency did not directly impact subjective well-being, and job satisfaction did not appear to moderate this relationship. These results highlighted that a complexity of factors influences subjective well-being amongst employees in the context of remote work, calling for further exploration into the phenomenon.