Name: Ms.Aarti Amar Ahuja (MBA,MA,B.

Ed,PursuingPhd)
Designation : Research Scholar
Institute Name: Shri Jagdishprasad Jhabarmal Tibrewala University
Subject: Management
Email id- ahujaaarti46@gmail.com
Mobile No. 9819242975

A swot on the alteration in the conduct of service industry workforce and

adapting with pressure during telecommute because of pandemic
Abstract

Before it was the society who used to shape the working, now with the flare of the pandemic
it is the virus who decides the working of individuals. With this taking place the individuals
working has changed, before they used to go to office for work but now they have to work
from home. Real communication has changed into virtual communication. This has led to rise
of the stress factor amongst the employees as they have to be available on their all the time
for the work. The lives have changed completely. With the help of this paper, the researcher
is trying to outcast the change that has taken place in the organizations and the lives of the
employees and trying to deal with stress. The study is conducted using Convenience
Sampling Method among 100 respondents consisting working males and females of age
group 20 to 60 years. The area covered is from Bandra to Borivali (Mumbai). The collected
data is tested using percentage method and is arranged in required using graphs and charts.
Keywords: Pandemic, Real Communication, Virtual Communication, Stress
Introduction
There is a continuous rise in the pandemic that is taking place. Rather than stopping it is
going on increasing. Now, with the recent news and the new strains that are found in the
world everything has almost come to halt. The day is not that far that almost will get
converted to everything and will be halted. Since the lockdown, everyone is telecommuting
in all the sectors of the industry. The organizations are shut and everyone is working from
home. Before there was face to face communication that used to take place but now, it is just
the virtual communication since a year that is taking place. If we talk about the work before it
was that individuals mostly used to finish the work at home and be at peace in their home but
now since the pandemic and working from home the individuals have to be available all the
time and on their all the time. Before the stress level was not that high and now the stress
level has risen. They are in a lot of stress and trying to cope up with the pressure. There is no
work life balance that exists since the flare up of the pandemic but the employees are trying
to adjust with it. Since, the community has entered in to the digital world, there are a lot of
online platforms that are available for communication eg: Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google
Meet etc. Now the meeting, conferences, presentations happen using this. One thing positive
about the pandemic and being at home and working from there is that you get time for your
family and get to be at home. There is a lot of flexibility experienced by the employees at
work. There is no such working culture or restrictions that are experienced by the employees.
There is also training that is provided to the individuals so that they get acquainted to the new
changes that are taking place and most of the employees are adjusted to it already. Talking
about the communication that is happening through the virtual world and also due to

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pandemic as you cannot travel, this reduces the work of it, and leads to no travelling and
social estrangement.
Literature Review
Dr. Jolly Sahni(2020),the examination presumes that the COVID-19 Pandemic has
unquestionably made a frenzy and dread among individuals including the undeniable degree
of stress and difficulties while doing exertion at home. This has upset the psychological
prosperity and calls for consideration of experts and chiefs. The discoveries of the
examination support the thought that there is a critical requirement for psycho-social assist,
local area support, administrative aid and a successful arrangement of hierarchical facilitate.
Since, not many examinations have contributed on the effect of Covid-19 on far off
representatives telecommuting; the discoveries of this investigation are important and have
critical bargain proposition. Mahmud Hamid(2020), Coronavirus has affected our way of
life from various perspectives. Medication on the way out soon. However, the world should
go on. For a little non-industrial nation like Bangladesh, it is difficult to secure the business
area for a more extended period. The economy goes down for this pandemic quickly. Thus, to
save the economy, Bangladesh and furthermore numerous different nations needed to open its
business area. However, Covid is still around us. We as a whole need to live and work with
Covid. Thus, to limit the danger government forces' new ordinary' decides that all need to
follow. When there are any new guidelines or any progressions forced in the association
representatives needed to acknowledge those changes. Now and again workers concur on that
and here and there they don't. However, their sentiments and responses are essential to
quantify. Since, supposing that worker's responses to changes are negative that may wind up
as a hindrance to execution. As indicated by this research representative, response to changes
has a huge negative impact on their presentation. Yet, this exploration is based on a pandemic
circumstance so we as a whole needed to acknowledge these progressions for our security.
For the pandemic changes, representatives needed to change them for wellbeing purposes. Be
that as it may, with the exception of pandemic change, different changes happened in the
associations where pioneers can step up and keep up and handle representatives as per
changes or include workers in changes.
Objectives
1. To study the impact of Corona Virus on the working of the employees
2. To study the shift of communication from real world to virtual world due to pandemic
3. To learn the pressure and its coping in the lives of employees due to telecommute that
is taking place due to pandemic
Statement of the Problem
Despite that there are a lot of changes that are taking place and people are adapting to
changes. There are individuals who do not like the changes that are taking place and are
facing difficulties and also sometimes there is lack of training that’s taking place.

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Hypothesis

H1: There is a positive shift of communication amongst workforce from real world to virtual
world taking place due to pandemic
H0: There is a negative shift of communication amongst workforce from real world to
virtual world taking place due to pandemic

H1: Employees working from home are adapting to pressure and the work changes arising
due to pandemic
H0: Employees working from home are not adapting to pressure and the work changes
arising due to pandemic

Scope of the Study

This research paper will help understand change in the lives that has taken place due to
pandemic and also the stress arising due to it and dealing with it.
Limitations
 Study is restricted to (Western Suburban) Mumbai region from Bandra to Borivali
 The outcome obtained from this learning cannot be totally comprehensive to other
area or city
 It focuses only on shift of communication and also the stress taking place in the lives
of the employees arising due to Pandemic
 Study has imposed age restrictions and will consider respondents between 20-60 yrs
of age
 Study is only restricted to working individuals comprising of male and female

Research Methodology
This study is conducted on the basis of Primary and Secondary research data collected
 Primary source is used to collect data through structured questionnaires, personal
observations and pondering, interviews and surveys.
 Secondary data like research papers, newspapers, journals, online reviews, online
apps, magazines, testimonials were referred

Analysis and Interpretation

The survey data was collected by the use of structured questionnaire from 100 respondents of
Gender Age

53 40 38
52 35
52
30 28
51
25
25
50
20
49
15
48
48 9
10
47 5

46 0
Male Female 20-30 31-40 41-50 51-60

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 Marital Status Occupation

70 80

60 58 70 67

60
50
42 50
40
40
30
30
20 18
20 15
10 10

0 0
Married Unmarried Divorced Widow Service Self Employed Professional

Monthly Income Are you aware of the pandemic situation?

120
70
61 100
60 100

50
80
40
60
30 25
20 40
14
10
20
0
10,001-25,000 25,001-40,000 40,001 and above
0
Yes No

Do you work from home? Do you prefer working from home?

120 70
62
100 60
100

50
80
40 38
60
30
40
20

20 10

0 0
Yes No Yes No

Do you face challenges when working from home? Are you aware of the online platforms available for communication due to pandemic?
90 120

80 78
100
100
70

60 80

50
60
40

30 40

20
11 20
10 6 5
0 0
Often Sometimes Rarely Never Yes No

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 Do you feel stressed out while working from home? Do you feel that pandemic has increased stress factor while working from home?
70 45
65 42
40 38
60
35
50
30
40 25
35

30 20

15
20 12
10
10 4 4
5

0 0
Yes No Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

Do you think that working from home give you flexibility in working? Do you think that communication through virtual world becomes difficult and face challenges?
60 90
52 79
80
50
70

40 60

50
30
26
40

20 30

11 20
10 8 10
3 10 5 6

0 0
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Often Sometimes Rarely Never

Due to virtual world communication has become easy with the help of the online platforms available due There are no restrictions in work from home as it was in the organization
to pandemic
50
60
45
53 45
50 40

35 33
40
30

30 25
24
20
20
15
11 9 10
10
10 8
4 5 3
0 0
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

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 Do you feel that in this pandemic situation due to work from home your travelling is reduced? Do you think that due to work from you are able to maintain social distancing?
70 70
62
60
60 60

50 50

40 40
31
30 30 28

20 20

10 10
3 4 3 3 4
2
0 0
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

Due to pandemic you are able to be with your family more often There are no restrictions in work from home as it was in the organization
70 60
52
60 58
50

50
40
40
30
32 30
30
20
20
11
10 10
5 3 4
2 3
0 0
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

Would you continue working from home post pandemic?

90
81
80

70

60

50

40

30
19
20

10

0
Yes No

From the above graphs which are made based on the survey conducted by the researcher it
proves that there is a change in the behaviour of the employees taking place and also the
impact of the pandemic. From the graphs we can say that due to work from home for the
employees communication has become very easy due to the virtual world. The stress that
there are experiencing with the help of pandemic there learning to deal with it and handle
pressure. Due to this they are able to maintain social disaffection and flexibility in working
and are able to be with the family.

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Suggestions
 Employees need to be updated with the online applications used for communication
 Employees who are less versed with the use of technology should try and learn and
adapt to the new changes taking place rather than being reluctant
 Employees should be given training and more attention who still find difficult adjust
in the work from home environment
 Employees should be aware of the new dynamic rules that the organizations shall
adopt
 Employees should also be aware of the rules and regulations of working that the
government implements for work from home
 Employees should take care of their physical health and should control their
psychological emotions that shall take place because of pandemic and work from
home

Conclusion
With this the researcher can conclude that pandemic has changed the lives of the employees
and also the way they work. This has led them to learn pressure and its coping. This
pandemic has also led them to control their emotions and have led them spend time with their
families. This has provided them flexibility for work. The pandemic has controlled the lives
but due to this the positive side is that the employees have adopted and are trying to cope
with it.sss
References
Research Papers:
 Dr. Jolly Sahni(2020). Impact of COVID-19 on Employee Behavior: Stress and
Coping Mechanism During WFH (Work From Home) Among Service Industry
Employees. International Journal of Operations Management, 1(1), 35-48
 Mahmud Hamid(2020). Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Employees’
Reaction to Changes on Employee Performance of Bangladesh. THE International
Journal of Business & Management, 8(8), 34-43
Websites:
 https://www.verywellmind.com/the-stress-of-working-from-home-4141174
 https://www2.deloitte.com/ua/en/pages/human-capital/articles/impact-of-covid-
19.html

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