East West University

EMBA (Summer – 2021)

Submitted To: Professor Abdul Bayes

Submitted By: Samia Afrin

ID: 2021-2-91-008

Course: EMBA 504 (Managerial Economics)

Section: 01

Date: 10th September, 2021

 Impact of Corona on Social Relationships and Employment Status

Introduction

COVID-19 pandemic has led to a dramatic loss of human life worldwide. This pandemic has
severely affected the social relationships and employment status– globally as well as in
Bangladesh. Social relationship refers to the existing association between family members,
friends, neighbors, co-workers, and other associates. Due to COVID-19 pandemic social
distancing & lockdown imposed by the Government. This pandemic has also triggered jobs
crises worldwide. In this essay I am going to discuss about some key aspects of social
relationships that are disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the overall impact of COVID-19
on employment status in Bangladesh.

Social networks

Social networks characterize the individuals and social connections that compose a system (such
as a workplace, community or society). Social relationships range from spouses and partners, to
coworkers, friends and acquaintances. They vary across many dimensions, including, for
example, frequency of contact and emotional closeness. Most of the relationship has transferred
to online due to this pandemic. During the height of COVID-19 restrictions, face-to-face
interactions were often reduced and interactions became more limited to the closest. Such
changes were not inevitable nor necessarily enduring, since social networks are also adaptive and
responsive to change, in that a disruption to usual ways of interacting can be replaced by new
ways of engaging (eg, Zoom, Google Meet). Individuals with a large number of newly
established relationships may have struggled to transfer these relationships online, resulting in
lost contacts and a heightened risk of social isolation.

Social support
In the context of COVID-19, the usual ways in which individuals interact and obtain social
support have been severely disrupted. For example, conversations with colleagues in a break
room offer an opportunity for socializing beyond one’s core social network, and these
conversations can provide a form of social support. A chance conversation may lead to advice
helpful to coping with situations or seeking formal help. Thus, the absence of these spontaneous
interactions may mean the reduction of indirect support-seeking opportunities. The shift to
homeworking and closure of community venues reduced the number of opportunities for these
spontaneous interactions to occur, and has, second, focused them locally. Not shaking hands may
symbolise a failure to extend friendship, or a failure to reach agreement. Facial expressions are
extremely important for comprehending people’s emotions and intentions. COVID-19 pandemic
has dramatically changed the nature of our social interactions. Online ‘equivalents’ do not easily
support ‘social-bonding’ activities such as singing and dancing, and rarely enable
chance/spontaneous one-on- one conversations which can help strengthen bonds across a larger
network. The loss of large gatherings to celebrate rites of passage (eg, weddings, birthday
parties) has additional relational costs since these events are performed by and for communities
to reinforce belonging, and to assist in transitioning to new phases of life. While online
interaction can go some way to mimicking these interaction norms, there are key differences.

Social Relationships
Emotional connection, through friendship or familial relationships, fulfils a basic human need
and strongly benefits health, including reduced stress levels, improved mental health. COVID-19
pandemic has offered opportunities for individuals to connect and strengthen close relationships
within their family members via quality time together, following closure of many usual external
social activities. For some in single-person households, the absence of a companion became
more conspicuous, leading to feelings of loneliness and lower mental well-being. Restrictions on
social interactions severely restricted social interactions with relatives, friends, colleagues.
However, online interactions are qualitatively different from in-person interactions and do not
provide the same opportunities for bonding.

Labor Market

The adverse effects of the economic crisis are being transmitted to the labour market as well as
to knowledge workers. On the domestic side, the shutdown of public life resulted in complete
stoppage of economic activities during the period which in turn led to loss of jobs and
livelihoods for many – especially those working as day and casual labourers, and those in petty
self-employment. The sectors that were at high risk included transport, manufacturing,
construction and services of various types. With the loss of jobs and incomes and with lingering
health crisis, both consumption and investment were adversely affected.
On the external side, the sharp global recession resulted in a steep decline in demand which
included the major export item of Bangladesh – ready-made garments (RMG). As orders were
being cancelled and new orders dried up, the immediate impact was a closure of many factories
and less than capacity operation in many others. The second route through which the jobs
situation was affected was overseas employment. As countries dependent on expatriate labour
went into recession and demand for workers fell, a large number of workers from Bangladesh
lost their jobs and started returning. In the context of the situation described above, it is
necessary to look at what is happening in the labour market of the country, how it is adjusting to
the new reality and what needs to be done to protect the livelihoods of those dependent on
labour. In the broader context of economic recovery, it is important to not only adopt policies
aimed at supporting the revival of economic activities but also to ensure that the labour market
does not lag behind and recovery does not become jobless.

Knowledge Workers

Covid-19 has rendered a large proportion of the workforce unable to commute to work due to
fast spread of this virus. This has resulted in both employers and employees seeking alternative
work arrangements. Due to the pandemic, knowledge workers experienced work from home
(WFH). In WFH the benefits of our ability to easily connect, can also erase the line between
what is work time and what is not. This adds a whole new dimension and challenges, and
sometimes we feel like we are ‘living at work’ rather than ‘working from home’. When working
from an office we used to have a fixed schedule. The alarm goes off at same time every day, we
grab our morning coffee at 7:05 am, and have to reach office desk by 9:00 am. When it comes to
working from home, it is a little different. Days before the pandemic, we were sitting in meetings
with coworkers, laughing at lunch break and may be even gearing up for a big presentation in
front of the boss. Now most of us are working from home in self-isolation. WFH has turned us
into digital nomads. There are no personal-professional boundaries left. Working from home
eliminates most of the traditional aspects of going to work, like commuting and dressing in a
business attire. WFH has increased our productivity to some level, but depending on someone’s
preferred work style and culture priorities, it could either be the best thing or the worst.

WFH can come with other drawbacks including- increased isolation, workplace disconnect, less
face time, and lack of trust and empathy in workplace. Existence of trust is rare between
coworkers and between employees and employers. With isolation and workplace disconnect
comes less face time. Working remotely, we do not have the same opportunities to speak face-to-
face with our colleagues and boss. Managers who cannot “see” direct reports of subordinates
sometimes struggle to trust that they are indeed working. Human brain always looks for hint in
the face, eyes, tone, gesture, and posture. Means “we hear with our eyes”. When we witness a
mismatch between words and body language, we develop lack of trust. This is how human brain
is evolved over the years. Managers cannot see their subordinates in person anytime and body
language is not visible in telecommuting. Even I am facing the same problem during working
from home. Sometime this lack of trust of managers’ results in doing the same task twice which
is exhausting and frustrating. The downsides of this prolonged WFH cannot be ignored.

Conclusion

History says that crisis creates an opportunity to think new. One of the positive aspects of this
ongoing crisis is that it gives an opportunity to rethink the development philosophy, economic
philosophy and action plan of the days ahead. The focus of that new thinking should be to move
away from growth-centric narrow thinking and move towards a multi-dimensional development
plan. If this discussion with partners, policymakers and those involved in development planning
and implementation can begin now, and if the right policies and action plans can be set,
undoubtfully the country will be in a much better position in economic and social construction in
the post-COVID situation.