As a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the higher education sector swiftly transitioned to online and blended learning methods. There is a lack of study on the connection between instructors' job engagement and digital competence, as well as their expectations of effort. This is surprising considering the numerous arguments in the research literature advocating for teachers to acquire digital competence during the significant shift to online education. This research aims to investigate the correlation between teachers' job engagement and their digital proficiency and effort expectation. The study comprised a cohort of 321 active teachers who were selected from educational institutes in China. The results of the structural equation modeling revealed a strong and statistically significant relationship between instructors' job engagement and effort expectation, and their digital proficiency. Furthermore, the teachers' level of job engagement was highly impacted by their anticipated level of exertion. Ultimately, it was determined that the mediator variable, effort expectancy, had a role in mediating the connection between teachers' job engagement and digital competence. In order to enhance teachers' job engagement, solutions were proposed to complement the digital revolution.