B5.4
Tracks
Stream B
| Friday, October 30, 2026 |
| 2:30 PM - 2:45 PM |
Overview
Digital Nomadism: An Integrative Review and a Future Research Agenda | 15 mins
Presenter
Professor Lena Wang
La Trobe Univ
Digital Nomadism: An Integrative Review and a Future Research Agenda
2:30 PM - 2:45 PMAbstract
In the evolving landscape of contemporary work arrangements, digital nomadism has emerged as a prominent form of work where individuals enjoy a high level of freedom to work while travelling (e.g., Kulshrestha, 2025). MBO Partners, one of the largest global talent platforms, reported in 2024 a sustained increase in the digital nomad workforce in the United States (US), noting a 10.8 million growth from 2019 to 2024, which accounts for a 147.95% increase over the past five years.
Despite growing scholarly interest, the literature lacks a holistic and integrative review that synthesizes the existing knowledge on digital nomadism, particularly within the work and organizational context, as most of this literature sits within tourism (e.g., Ay & Güzel, 2024; Ji et al., 2024), information technology (e.g., Dal Fiore et al., 2014; Jarrahi et al., 2022), and economics (e.g., Sanchez-Vergara et al., 2023; Tyutyuyukov & Guseva, 2021) disciplines.
To address this gap, we conducted a systematic review of the current literature on digital nomadism. Our literature search revealed 76 journal articles published between 2014 and 2025. We first conducted the review using bibliometric, which revealed limited insights on the themes. Hence we then proceeded with a narrative review, with the aim to uncover insights that are specifically relevant from the work and organisation perspective.
Based on the systematic review, we developed an integrative framework that brings together fragmented research, which include: 1) contextual and personal enablers to motivate individuals pursue the digital nomadic lifestyle, 2) the nature of digital nomads including their unique characteristics that make them distinct from other types of remote workers and business travellers, 3) their psychological experiences once starting this lifestyle, such as the tensions and challenges they experienced, 4) associated outcomes on both macro-level and individual level, and 5) moderators, which include structural and individual resources that could help individuals sustain such a lifestyle.
Overall, our study offers an integrated understanding of the work-leisure nexus of digital nomads from a work and organisational perspective, and also offers a roadmap for future research including implications to individuals interested in pursuing this lifestyle, and implications to organisations for better manage and support this emerging workforce.
Despite growing scholarly interest, the literature lacks a holistic and integrative review that synthesizes the existing knowledge on digital nomadism, particularly within the work and organizational context, as most of this literature sits within tourism (e.g., Ay & Güzel, 2024; Ji et al., 2024), information technology (e.g., Dal Fiore et al., 2014; Jarrahi et al., 2022), and economics (e.g., Sanchez-Vergara et al., 2023; Tyutyuyukov & Guseva, 2021) disciplines.
To address this gap, we conducted a systematic review of the current literature on digital nomadism. Our literature search revealed 76 journal articles published between 2014 and 2025. We first conducted the review using bibliometric, which revealed limited insights on the themes. Hence we then proceeded with a narrative review, with the aim to uncover insights that are specifically relevant from the work and organisation perspective.
Based on the systematic review, we developed an integrative framework that brings together fragmented research, which include: 1) contextual and personal enablers to motivate individuals pursue the digital nomadic lifestyle, 2) the nature of digital nomads including their unique characteristics that make them distinct from other types of remote workers and business travellers, 3) their psychological experiences once starting this lifestyle, such as the tensions and challenges they experienced, 4) associated outcomes on both macro-level and individual level, and 5) moderators, which include structural and individual resources that could help individuals sustain such a lifestyle.
Overall, our study offers an integrated understanding of the work-leisure nexus of digital nomads from a work and organisational perspective, and also offers a roadmap for future research including implications to individuals interested in pursuing this lifestyle, and implications to organisations for better manage and support this emerging workforce.
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Lena conducts research that focuses on understanding and developing individuals' personality, fostering employee proactive behaviours, and promoting diversity and inclusion in organisations. Lena also has many years of consulting experiences, specialising in areas including leadership and organisational capability development, workforce development, talent assessment, psychological test design, training design and evaluation, among others. She has worked with a wide range of public sector organisations, as well as organisations from mining, oil and gas, consulting, furniture, FMCG, and not-for-profit sectors. Lena has a PhD in work psychology from Institute of Work Psychology, University of Sheffield, UK, and is certified for using a wide range of talent assessment & training tools.
