COVID-19 pandemic has changed the work environment with employees being the most affected in the world economy.
Today, most countries are enforcing partial and total lockdown in their major cities. Businesses have shut down completely causing massive retrenchment and unemployment.
The International Labor Organization reports that 4 out of 5 workers are affected by COVID-19 pandemic directly. Globally, almost 2.7 billion people are affected by this pandemic. The impact of COVID-19 on global livelihoods and job security is also a significant issue worth discussing.
In this article, we shed some light on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected employees in various sectors of the economy.
The Risk of COVID-19 Infection
According to The World Health Organization (WHO), over 5 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 globally. Over 300,000 people have died of this pandemic. Employees in large organizations are living in a phobia of contracting COVID-19.
Those working in industrial firms have to adjust to new hygiene and sanitary measures to safeguard themselves from the risk of getting the disease. Working under pressure of getting infected with COVID-19 at the workplace has reduced labor productivity in most companies.
For this reason, most production firms have shut down their operations with a promise to resume business once the COVID-19 pandemic is over. The effect is a massive layoff of workers in most economies.
Reduced Wages and Salary Cut
Most companies have realized a reduction in their revenues because of low demand in the market. With reduced revenue, employers have to revise their worker wages and salaries. In most cases, employers have asked their workers to accept wage cuts or risk losing their jobs.
A cut in salaries or low wages has a direct impact on people’s living standards. Employees are no longer able to meet their basic needs or pay their bills.
Although some firms may opt for support from financial institutions to pay their wages, this may still be insufficient to meet their revenue loss. Wage cut seems to be a more effective way for employers to maintain their workers, and this has a direct financial impact on workers.
Emotional Impact of COVID-19 to Workers
According to a recent study, 9 out of 10 workers are more concerned about the impacts of COVID-19 on their life-work balance. Since some companies have forced their employees to take no-pay leaves or work remotely at home, most workers are affected economically and psychologically.
The fear of losing jobs and the changing work culture is something that worries most workers. Some companies are adopting new policies and work strategies that may see most employees losing their jobs after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Employees are more concerned about COVID-19. They live hoping for things to get back to normal. This has a direct impact on work deliverability, especially amongst employees working remotely.
Final Thought
COVID-19 has affected employees in many ways that may be beyond the scope of this article. The most affected group of employees are those working in the informal sector, with no social security or work insurance.
The pandemic may still be here for a while. Therefore, employers should adopt some measures to protect their workers and reduce the unforeseen damages on employee livelihood and social welfare like Walthew Law Firm.
