Legacy imprints and categorisation shifts: How interpretations of job demands and resources change in abrupt transitions to virtual work
研究员工突然转向虚拟工作时，如何基于面对面工作留下的“遗留印记”来分类工作特征为需求或资源，以及当虚拟体验与预期不符时如何重新分类，对理解动态工作需求和员工福祉有启示。
What happens when workers experience abrupt transitions to virtual working? Drawing on interviews with employees who were unexpectedly shifted to virtual work overnight, we show that people carry legacy imprints : expectations from face-to-face settings that shape how they initially classify job features as demands or resources. When lived experience in the virtual context contradicts these expectations (e.g. online social gatherings feel exhausting; proximity to family while working proves energising), workers reclassify job characteristics. We show that expectation–experience mismatch explains this categorisation shift at the individual level. On the contrary, when expectations are confirmed (or cognitive overload crowds out reflection) reclassification does not occur. We recast demands/resources as interpretive and dynamic during abrupt transitions rather than fixed attributes, offering an extension to Job Demands-Resources theory. We discuss implications for supporting employee well-being through sudden change and turbulent contexts, including designing short feedback loops for reflection and avoiding static assumptions about what counts as a demand or a resource.