Born to work virtually? An exploration of digital natives and digital immigrants’ perceptions of organising the virtual workplace

Abstract: Virtuality of work has become increasingly important in the modern work environment due to globalization and increased technological development. Further, the workforce being composed of digital natives and digital immigrants with varying levels of technical abilities might have implications on organising virtual work due to different perceptions. Therefore, the purpose of our study is to understand how and why digital natives and digital immigrants differ in their perceptions of organising virtual work. In order to gain understanding of this an exploratory, qualitative research design was chosen. Data was collected from ten digital immigrants and ten digital natives and then analysed with a content analysis. The results showed that there are many similarities as well as differences between the populations. Beyond the populations, the findings suggest that work values as well as the usage of ICTs influence how the challenges and opportunities of performing work virtually are perceived by the individuals. Further, these challenges and opportunities shape the perceptions regarding the organisation of virtual work. These findings advance research in the field of virtual work through discussing the differences in perceptions between the populations and beyond them through the conceptual model on how perceptions about organising virtual work are formed. Additionally, the findings can benefit managers to understand their employees better and therefore create better virtual work environments for the future.