Work meaningfulness is fundamental to how employees approach, enact, and experience tasks and interpersonal relationships, and to maintain mental well-being in the workplace. However, research on the antecedents of work meaningfulness is unbalanced, i.e., the heavy emphasis on the supplies (or sources) of work meaningfulness and the insufficient attention on the individuals’ survival and psychological needs. This paper aims to address this research gap of work meaningfulness by incorporating the person-environment fit framework with a special focus on needs-supplies fit type. Drawing on research concerning needs for survival and three basic psychological needs from self-determination theory, a set of needs-based antecedents of work meaningfulness were examined, viz., needs-supplies fit for survival, autonomy, belongingness, and competence (S-ABC needs-supplies fit). Additionally, the interaction effects of S-ABC needs-supplies fit and work orientation (work as jobs, careers, or callings) on work meaningfulness were investigated. The current study applied the two-phased explanatory sequential mixed methods research design (QUAN --> qual = Explain). Results from the phase 1 quantitative survey (N = 363) suggest that work meaningfulness increased as autonomy supplies approached the needed levels and decreased when supplies exceeded the needed levels. Meanwhile, work meaningfulness increased as survival, belongingness, and competence supplies approached the needed levels and remained high or continued increasing (as opposed to an expected decrease) when supplies exceeded the needed levels. Further, the study found interaction effects between work orientation and autonomy and belongingness needs-supplies fit on work meaningfulness, while no interaction was found between work orientation and survival and competence needs-supplies fit on work meaningfulness. Contrary to expectations, the results suggest that individuals who view work as jobs were more susceptible to autonomy and belongingness needs-supplies fit/misfit; while work as callings or careers acted as a buffer and mitigated the otherwise negative effects of autonomy and belongingness needs-supplies fit/misfit on work meaningfulness. Specifically, for people who viewed work as jobs, work meaningfulness increased as autonomy supplies approached the needed levels but decreased when supplies exceeded the needed levels; and work meaningfulness increased as belongingness supplies approached the needed levels and continued increasing as belongingness exceeded the needed levels. When people viewed work as careers or callings, autonomy and belongingness needs-supplies fit/misfit did not significantly influence work meaningfulness. The phase 2 qualitative interview (N = 23) results generally corroborated with the quantitative results and provided empirical evidences that were explanatory to the quantitative results. Implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.

Even before the recent surge in remote work as a result of COVID-19 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020), there has been a growing trend of employees working from home either entirely (i.e., remote) or working from home a couple of days per week (i.e., telecommuting) (Minton-Eversole, 2012). The goal of the current research is to investigate what type of individuals prefer these types of flexible working arrangements. Specifically, how individual autonomy causality orientation (i.e., ACO, the desire to individuals to act based on their internal volitions) interacts with workplace variables (i.e., workplace location and task interdependence) to impact individual’s perceptions of how the job fulfills their needs (i.e., needs supplies fit, NS fit). Further, how will needs supplies fit (i.e., NS fit) impact important behaviors as part of the job search process such as job attraction. To provide a sample that is more representative of a working population, all participants were employed for an average of at least 20 hours a week. In the current study, individuals were randomly assigned to one of six vignettes in a 2 (i.e., high/low task interdependence) x 3 (i.e., traditional office/telecommute/remote) experimental between-subjects design. Data was collected using an online survey via MTurk. Correlational analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were used to assess this model and compare the relationships between autonomy causality orientation, needs supplies fit, and job attraction in relation to the experimental conditions for workplace location and task interdependence. The current study results suggest those scoring low on ACO tend to perceive moderate levels of NS fit regardless of the job environment conditions. Yet those high on ACO may be more likely to perceive NS fit when presented with job environment conditions that allow high interactions with others as part of their work (i.e., high task interdependence) or virtual work environments (i.e., telecommuting and remote). The positive relationship between job attraction and NS fit individual perceptions of having individual needs supplied by may help to attract more applicants.

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As working arrangements become more flexible and many people work remotely, the risk of social isolation rises. Coworking spaces try to prevent this by offering not only a workplace, but also a community. Adopting a person-environment fit perspective, we examined how the congruence between workers’ needs and supplies by coworking spaces relate to job satisfaction and intent to leave. We identified five needs (i.e., community, collaboration, amenities, location, and cost), of which community was expected to be the central need. An online questionnaire was distributed among coworkers in Germany and Austria, resulting in a sample of 181 coworkers. Results showed that needs-supplies fit regarding community was related to job satisfaction and intent to leave in coworking spaces. Findings for the other needs, however, did not show that congruence is associated with outcomes. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of community fit in coworking and offer insights for workers and entrepreneurs in this area.