Introduction
In addition to health care, global trade, and the standard manner people interact, COVID-19 has irrevocably affected work behaviors and attitudes. As Karácsony (2021) notes, “the virus has had a significant impact on … the labor market” (p. 1). A vast body of knowledge and scientists’ attention is rightly focused on researching the negative impact on job satisfaction in a remote setting. For example, one recent survey found that the homely work environment generates such psychological ailments as “anxiety, sadness, trouble sleeping, low motivation, mental stress and trouble concentrating” (Remote work amid COVID-19 pandemic, 2022, para. 3). In this paper, one will try to find the positive impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the following restrictive measures on work attitudes and explore new institutional challenges.
Positive Work Attitudes in the COVID-19 Era
Interestingly, many workers have found performing work duties from home a more comfortable and convenient option, which has increased their job satisfaction. However, to achieve this positive effect on personnel, employers need to provide them with several financial and managerial benefits. These include wages that can reach workers’ salary satisfaction and “supervisory support, and job autonomy” (Karácsony, 2021). Chinese sociologists also add an influencing factor of “home workspace suitability” (Yu & Wu, 2021). They also divide supervisory support into digital social one and monitoring mechanisms (Yu & Wu, 2021). The purpose of the former is to maintain the healthy emotional state of employees during work sessions, and the latter is needed to ensure the necessary productivity. Consequently, one might argue that a positive working attitude in the current COVID-19 global setting depends a lot on the commitment and effort of management.
Sources of Negative Work Attitudes in the COVID-19 Era
Moreover, this group of Chinese researchers also identified things that contribute to lower job satisfaction in long-term remote work. They argue that the absence of factors such as the lack of a comfortable workplace at home and little or no administrative support from employers is detrimental to work attitudes (Yu & Wu, 2021). The modern generation of the workforce is very flexible and adaptable in terms of work settings, and management now plays a critical role in maintaining their staff’s emotional and moral well-being.
Novel Institutional Challenges
The most relevant and comprehensive work attitudes challenge for employers and entrepreneurs is convincing employees that their pre-COVID-19 workplace is safe. Parker et al. (2022) say that “among those who have a workplace outside of their home, 61% now say they are choosing not to go into their workplace” (para. 2). Experts argue that creating and implementing new communication protocols can solve these employees’ concerns (Cerutti & Grodoski, n.d.). Another new institutional challenge is providing a stable and positive emotional climate in work setting for workers’ psychological well-being; the solution is health-oriented design strategies.
Conclusion
This short essay analyzes the positive side of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing mass teleworking on global work attitudes. It has been found that increased job satisfaction in the worldwide workforce is real and achievable in the current lockdown era. Management needs to create financial and administrative incentives for employees for it to happen. It was also explained that employer inactivity leads to a decline in this work attitudes indicator in remote workers and described novel hardships in the field associated with the current COVID-19 era.
References
Cerutti, K., & Grodoski, L. (n.d.). Five post-COVID behaviors and attitudes that will reshape the workplace. Work Design Magazine. Web.
Karácsony, P. (2021). Impact of teleworking on job satisfaction among Slovakian employees in the era of COVID-19. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 19(3), 1-9. Web.
Parker, K., Horowitz, J. M., & Minkin, R. (2022). The COVID-19 pandemic continues to reshape work in America. Pew Research Center. Web.
Remote work amid COVID-19 pandemic led to spikes in mental, physical issues: Survey. (2022). Safety+Health Magazine. Web.
Yu, J., & Wu, Y. (2021). The impact of enforced working from home on employee job satisfaction during COVID-19: An event system perspective. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(24), 1-22. Web.