Do Robots Improve the Work–Live Balance? Evidence From a Shared Services Center

Abstract

This article examines the effects of process automation on the work–life balance of management accounting professionals in a shared services center (SSC), with the intervention of perceived usefulness of automation and upskilling. A single entity survey was carried out in a SSC of a player in the electricity sector listed on the Brazilian stock exchange, and structural equation modeling was applied to the collected data. The results demonstrate a direct positive effect of process automation on work–life balance, as well as on the perceived usefulness of automation and upskilling. Upskilling has a positive effect on work–life balance, contrasting with the perceived usefulness of automation. The mediations of the perceived usefulness of automation and upskilling were not confirmed in the relationship between process automation and work–life balance. The findings regarding the role of process automation on the work–life balance of back-office management accounting professionals in SSC raise reflections on the well-being of the workforce and contribute to the theoretical-empirical discussion of this phenomenon.