Purpose <p>Technostress is identified as a significant factor affecting employees’ behaviors. Despite growing concerns about technostress in academic environments, a critical gap remains in understanding how technological literacy might mitigate its negative effects on workplace behaviors. This study aims to assess the impact of technostress on employee work behaviors such as organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and employee incivility while examining the moderating effect of technological literacy in this relationship.</p> Design/methodology/approach <p>Data were collected from 327 academic staff members at universities in Ghana using a cross-sectional survey. Hypotheses were tested using hierarchical regression analyses to examine both direct relationships and interaction effects, with particular attention to the moderating role of technological literacy.</p> Findings <p>The results indicate that technostress significantly reduces OCB while increasing employee incivility. Additionally, technological literacy is found to moderate these relationships. Specifically, academic staff with higher technological literacy show less negative impact of technostress on OCB, while those with lower technological literacy exhibit higher levels of employee incivility under the influence of technostress.</p> Originality/value <p>This study extends the technostress literature by empirically demonstrating how technological literacy serves as a protective factor against the detrimental effects of technostress on workplace behaviors in higher education contexts. The findings provide actionable insights for academic institutions seeking to develop targeted interventions that enhance technological competence and foster positive workplace interactions in increasingly digitalized academic environments.</p>