The rapid integration of Generative AI (GenAI) tools into the workplace is reshaping how knowledge workers approach their tasks, offering unprecedented opportunities for personalization, creativity, and automation, while simultaneously inducing technostress. Technostress arises from the pressure to continuously adapt to evolving technologies, often manifesting as resistance to change or diminished job satisfaction. Worse, unmanaged technostress can lead to decreased engagement, higher turnover, and a decline in organizational performance. Paradoxically, the same technologies that induce techno-distress also have the potential to foster techno-eustress – a positive form of stress that motivates employees and enhances well-being. By enabling employees to tailor their tasks, workflows and roles, GenAI-driven job crafting may transform technostress into meaningful work experiences. This duality presents a critical management dilemma: How can organizations leverage GenAI to enhance work meaningfulness through job crafting while mitigating stress-related barriers? Building on job crafting theory and technostress frameworks, this work-in-progress study examines the relationship between GenAI-driven job crafting and work meaningfulness, mediated by techno-distress and techno-eustress. The hypotheses will be tested through a survey-based methodology targeting knowledge workers, employing PLS-SEM to analyze relationships. This study addresses a critical challenge by exploring how GenAI can be strategically leveraged to balance the dual impacts of technostress – mitigating its negative consequences while harnessing its potential to enable job crafting and enhance work meaningfulness. The findings offer a pathway for organizations to navigate technological adoption effectively, fostering meaningful and engaging work experiences, aligning with broader discussions on the future of work and emerging technologies in shaping employee experiences.
