What is it about?
This study examines how wearable devices and supportive management affect stress among employees in public organizations, and how this depends on the kind of job people do. We combined survey data from 341 employees with sensor data from 18 employees who wore stress-monitoring devices for 48 days. We find that wearables are most helpful in jobs where staff have room to adjust their tasks and pace of work, especially when managers give clear guidance, time to act on device feedback, and ongoing support. In more tightly controlled jobs, good management still reduces stress, but wearables add little extra benefit. Overall, the results demonstrate that it is job conditions and management practices that determine whether digital tools improve well-being. Stress-reduction strategies should consider the different types of public sector job.
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Why is it important?
Many public organizations are introducing digital tools to support employee well-being, but these tools do not help in the same way across all jobs. This study shows that wearables can support stress reduction when employees have enough discretion and time to act on the feedback, and when managers provide guidance and support. In more tightly structured jobs, supportive management still helps reduce stress, but wearables add much less. This matters because it shows that the value of workplace wearables depends not only on the technology itself, but also on job design, management, and the objective for which the technology is introduced. These findings apply specifically to wearables used to support stress management at work; wearables introduced for other organizational objectives may follow different implementation logics.
Perspectives
What I find most interesting about this article is that it moves beyond the simple idea that technology automatically improves well-being at work. I wanted to show that the same device can help in one work context and add little value in another, depending on employees’ room for action, the support they receive from managers, and the objective the technology is meant to serve. I hope the article encourages researchers and practitioners to think carefully about how digital tools are introduced in public services, because better outcomes depend not only on devices, but also on supportive organizational conditions and objectives.
Vadym Mozgovoy
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Managing stress in the public sector: interactions between supportive management and enacted use of wearables across jobs, International Journal of Public Sector Management, February 2026, Emerald,
DOI: 10.1108/ijpsm-07-2025-0328.
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