The physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms of health problems among employees before and during the COVID-19 epidemic

Maja Rožman,Polona Tominc

doi:10.1108/er-10-2020-0469

Maja Rožman, Polona Tominc

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1108/er-10-2020-0469

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Abstract

PurposeThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic has caused stress for everyone and impacted the lives of people globally. Such stress increases troubles for the employees. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to identify symptoms of health problems that employees face during the COVID-19 epidemic. Also, the aim of the paper is to examine if there are statistically significant differences in the physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms of health problems among employees before the COVID-19 epidemic and employees during the COVID-19 epidemic.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on a survey of 950 employees in Slovenian companies. The factor analysis and the t-test for two independent samples were used to test the hypotheses of the research.FindingsThe results show that physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms of health problems of employees during the COVID-19 epidemic are intensified as compared to the before COVID-19 epidemic era.Originality/valueThe results highlight the measures with which companies can reduce the problem of different symptoms of employees during the COVID-19 epidemic. The results can be useful for employers and for managers who want to create an adequate working environment for employees during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Highlights

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, in combination with the strict health protection and containment measures, represents a significant negative shock for economic activity in Slovenia, other European countries and globally (Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development, 2020)
In the context of factor analysis, we got the factors that were used for analysis statistically significant differences of symptoms of health problems among employees before the COVID-19 epidemic and during the COVID-19 epidemic with the t-test for two independent samples
The study findings show that physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms of health problems among employees during the COVID-19 epidemic are more strongly expressed as before the COVID-19 epidemic, and the study findings show that there are significant differences regarding physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms of health problems among employees who worked from home and those who worked at the workplace during the COVID-19 epidemic

Summary

Introduction

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, in combination with the strict health protection and containment measures, represents a significant negative shock for economic activity in Slovenia, other European countries and globally (Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development, 2020). Many countries’ governments have taken measures dramatically affecting the daily life of society (Kraus et al, 2020). These measures affect the populations’ daily life but have caused significant economic consequences in economies around the world (Baker et al, 2020). Governments have set severe restrictions on various industries, mandated social distancing and health protection policies, and even locked down nonessential businesses in many countries, triggering simultaneous demand as well as supply-side issues (del RioChanona et al, 2020).

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