Navigating the Tension Between Performance and Well-Being: A Qualitative Study into Employee Sensemaking in the Age of GenAI

Abstract

This thesis explores how employees make sense of and navigate the tension between rising performance expectations and employee well-being in the context of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI). While current research often emphasizes productivity, speed, and efficiency gains, less attention has been paid to how employees experience these changes in daily work. Through twelve semi-structured interviews, this study provides an employee-centered understanding of GenAI across different organizational contexts. The findings show that GenAI has become embedded in everyday work practices as a tool for writing, structuring information, processing complex content, and supporting task completion. At the same time, GenAI can recalibrate performance expectations, as AI-enabled speed may gradually become seen as normal or expected. The findings further show that GenAI creates ambivalent well-being experiences. It can make work feel more manageable, satisfying, and meaningful, but can also reduce ownership, creativity, and personal fulfilment. Employees navigate this tension through selective use, professional judgement, clear constraints, and organizational support. This thesis contributes to discussions on responsible GenAI implementation by showing that organizations should consider not only efficiency and output, but also the human experience of work.