The Dichotomy of a Changing Workplace: Analysing South Africa’s Newspapers during the Covid-19 Situation

Abstract

This paper analyses the potential influence of the selected, South African online newspapers on the discourse of alternative workplace arrangements during the Covid-19 era. A content analysis of online newspapers’ coverage of the pertinent workplace requisites of performance during the Covid-19 pandemic enlightens the complex dichotomy of a traditional office workplace against work from home and a hybrid work model. The essence of anticipatory corporate leadership is that personnel behavior has to adapt to the changing work situation. This paper hypothesis that the framing of ideas by South African newspapers promotes perceptions and particular interpretations of the prevailing workplace environment during the two years of the Covid-19 period in South Africa. The research uses qualitative content analysis, which is the written texts, and quantitative methods of content analysis of newspapers by conducting a hypothesis test and independent group ANOVA test. That provides perspectives of choices and reasons for or against the distinct workplace situation. The results show that the newspaper reports focused more on the “Work from Home” practice. The newspapers’ perspective on the “Work from Home” culture may heighten the anticipatory strategies of corporate leaders in their pursuit to sustain high work performance. The circulation level of selected online newspapers in South Africa influences the research findings.