Identifying the stressors hindering performance in the Indian construction industry: an empirical investigation

Abstract

PurposeThis study attempts to analyse and rank the impact of work-related issues arising within the Indian construction industry in the context of the existing pandemic. Furthermore, this is the first attempt to provide strategies to overcome issues among a workforce that is highly contractual in nature and is currently witnessing the uncertainties of the pandemic's aftermath. To the best of the author's knowledge, few studies have highlighted the combined analysis of job insecurity, psychological stress and emotional exhaustion in the Indian construction industry.Design/methodology/approachThe “Best Worst Methodology” (BWM) has been used in this study to analyse and rank the key factors that eliminate negative characteristics among contractual construction employees. The BWM, outlined by Rezaei (2015, 2016), is a popular “multi-criteria decision analysis technique” due to its advantage of consistent results and lesser pairwise data requirements.FindingsThe study identified and ranked the socioeconomic impact of the three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic on construction sector employees in the Indian subcontinent. The results indicate that job insecurity has the most prominent impact, which ultimately produces psychological stress and emotional exhaustion among employees.Originality/valueTo achieve the objective of identifying and prioritising the criteria of adverse socioeconomic impacts during the pandemic and outlining plans of action for the construction industry, ten experts (civil engineers/managers) from ten different construction projects were involved in a mixed-method case study, which has never been explored in the Indian construction sector.