Office Work Interrupted: Evolving Understandings of Work and Organizing in the Shadow of COVID-19

Abstract

For many workers, COVID-19 catalyzed a rapid disappearance of the physical organization and a dramatic rise in technologically mediated forms of organizing. Prior research on remote and virtual work has largely focused on what changes enable virtual workers to succeed, under the assumption that these virtual workers would represent a minority of the workforce and would primarily occupy specialized roles. Key questions to be asked are: do we need to revisit our thinking about virtual work in light of our changed, and changing, circumstances? And what might the recent, widespread virtualization of work teach us not just about virtual work, but, also, about workers and organizations, more broadly? Our goal with this symposium is to feature future-of-work scholars who can share their insights into the ways that we might understand virtual work anew, as well as the ways that virtualization can impact how workers understand themselves, their work, and their organizations. The presentations contained in this symposium cover newcomer socialization, the doing of virtual work, the emotional costs of that work, and workers’ reflections upon the transition to virtual work. In so doing, they invite us to question both scholarly and practitioner assumptions about virtual work and highlight the ways in which workers shape their experience of work. Benefits To Onboarding Remotely? Building Trust With Supervisors Without Face-To-Face Contact Presenter: Mailys George; IESE Business School Presenter: Kevin W. Rockmann; George Mason U. The Work Of Getting to Work: Independent Workers and The Articulation Work People Engage In... Presenter: Melissa Mazmanian; U. of California, Irvine Presenter: Ingrid Erickson; Syracuse U. School of Information Presenter: Margaret Jack; Syracuse U. School of Information The Emotional Costs Of Remote Work Arrangements Presenter: Christine Beckman; U. of Southern California Presenter: Cynthia Wilkes; U. of Southern California You Can Take It With You: Worker Adaptation To The Virtualized Organization Presenter: Julia Coff; New York U. Presenter: Frances J. Milliken; New York U. Presenter: Kevin Woojin Lee; U. of British Columbia