How children feel about their fathers' work in the hi-tech sector

Research in the organisational context has hardly studied the emotional impact of work on employees' family members. We interviewed children of hi-tech R&D engineers who reported experiencing pride in their fathers' work, and pleasure with its side-benefits and belongingness. Many thought of becoming hi-tech engineers themselves. Children also expressed resentment at their fathers' absence and the constraints imposed by benefit programs. It is advised that organisations should be attentive to the impact of these aspects on employees' productivity when designing working rules and family benefit programs. Findings point to the blurred boundaries between emotional work in the family realm and emotional labour in the workplace.