“Taking the Road Less Travelled”: Exploring the Work and Family Demands of Women in the Trucking Industry

Abstract

Employee well-being is of primary concern for organisations. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been various research interests among organisational scholars on the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on employee well-being and their work experience during this time. In this study, we investigated the implications of work and family demands on the well-being of women in the South African transport and logistics industry towards the tail end of the pandemic. There is a need to understand the work and family demands that displace women in the trucking industry, more so to understand such practices towards the return to work and normality after the pandemic. Work and family demands are at the centre of employees’ lives, and women are faced with a dual role when compared to their male counterparts. We followed a qualitative research approach and sampled 12 women from a large transport and logistics organisation in South Africa using non-probability purposive sampling. The selected sample included participants from various job categories, at job levels ranging from unskilled workers to senior-management level. We employed thematic analysis to analyse the data. The research results indicate that work and family demands affect the physical and psychological well-being of women employees. The well-being of employees forms an integral part of organisations. The employment relations and human resources departments should therefore adopt a strategic approach to ensuring employees’ well-being is positioned at the top of their departmental list as a focus point of activities.