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Ksinan JiskrovaG. J Epidemiol Community Health Month 2022 Vol 0 No 0
Impact of COVID- 19 pandemic on the
workforce: from psychological distress
to the GreatResignation
Gabriela Ksinan Jiskrova
The COVID- 19 pandemic resulted not
only in the increased morbidity and
mortality due to the virus but also in
significant health, lifestyle, economic and
societal changes. After the 2 years of the
pandemic, there is a consensus that the
mental health of the populations has been
adversely affected, albeit to a varying
degree in different demographic groups.1
One of the important predictors of mental
health difficulties has been a disruption of
employment and income loss associated
with country- wide lockdowns and restric-
tions. Previous research has focused
particularly on the situation of healthcare
workers. The demands of treating
COVID- 19 patients lead to significant
levels of stress, burnout and symptoms of
depression and anxiety among this group.2
However, workers in other sectors also
experienced significant increases in
psychological distress. Among the most
affected were workers in professional and
technical industries, hospitality, customer
service, small employers and self- employed
as well as female workers.
The groups of workers that have expe-
rienced the largest increases in psycholog-
ical distress share several characteristics.
First, they were employed in occupa-
tions and industries heavily affected by
the governmental measures to contain
the pandemic, including lockdowns and
facility closures. For example, 81% of
businesses in the hospitality sector were
temporarily closed and over 1,5 million
hospitality workers were on furlough in
the UK during the spring 2020 wave.3
Second, they were employed in occupa-
tions that cannot be performed remotely,
including manufacturing, construction,
hospitality, retail, and food services.
Baker4 points out that approximately 75%
of the US workforce is employed in such
occupations and that these occupations
tend to be lower- paid. Lastly, and related
to the previous point, job and income
loss along with the associated psycholog-
ical impact has been concentrated among
groups already vulnerable before the
pandemic.5 These groups include workers
on zero- contract hours, those in the gig
economy but also self- employed workers
and small business owners. Governments
spent considerable financial resources
to protect businesses and workers from
the financial shock resulting from the
shutdown of the economy. For example,
the price tag of the US CARES Act that
included stimulus checks for households,
enhanced unemployment benefits, and aid
for small businesses and corporations was
approximately 2.2 trillion dollars.6 The
analysis by Donnelly and Farrina7 shows
that supportive social policies indeed can
weaken the link between income shocks
and the worsening of mental health.
Given the adverse impact of employ-
ment loss on financial and psycholog-
ical well- being, one would expect that
workers will be motivated to return
to their jobs as soon as the restrictions
are relaxed. However, contrary to the
expectations, at least some workers are
reassessing their job and career options
instead. Data from the Job Openings and
Labor Turnover Survey show that the
monthly resignation rates in the United
States during 2021 were the highest in the
20- year history and that the number of job
openings far exceeds the number of hires.8
At the same time, workers were sharing
online their frustration with working
conditions during the pandemic, ranging
from the lack of protective gear to virtual
micromanagement or the impossibility of
combining work demands with their chil-
dren’s remote schooling. For example, r/
antiwork, a leftist subreddit criticising
working conditions and employment,
gained over 1 million new subscribers
between January 2019 and February 2022,
slightly decreasing in popularity only after
an embarrassing Fox News interview with
one of the subreddit moderators.9
Media has quickly picked up on this
trend, dubbed the Great Resignation, and
commentators, journalists and researchers
have speculated about the reasons behind
it. Some wonder whether the widespread
uncertainty led workers to reassess their
work and life priorities, consider alterna-
tives they would have never thought of
before the pandemic, or simply realise that
their work conditions have been unaccept-
able. With people being creatures of habit,
only a major disruption of their routines
may make them realise that their current
situation is untenable and in need of revi-
sion.10 11 Paradoxically, despite the well-
established link between unemployment
and mental health difficulties, psycholog-
ical factors such as burnout have often
been mentioned as reasons for quitting.12
Of course, the Great Resignation may
be just a short- lived trend amplified by
media. We simply do not have enough
data at this moment to make any conclu-
sions on this matter. However, it illustrates
just how complex and unpredictable the
impact of the pandemic on the workforce
and the workplace may be. The course of
the pandemic has taught us a lesson about
making hasty predictions. However, the
events of the past 2 years resulted in such
a disruption of the status quo, that the
world of employment might be changed
forever. The precise form of these changes
will only unfold in the years to come.
Contributors GKJ drafted and revised the manuscript.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent for publication Not applicable.
Ethics approval Not applicable.
Provenance and peer review Commissioned;
internally peer reviewed.
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. No
commercial re- use. See rights and permissions.
Published by BMJ.
To cite Ksinan JiskrovaG. J Epidemiol Community
Health Epub ahead of print: [please include Day Month
Year]. doi:10.1136/jech-2022-218826
J Epidemiol Community Health 2022;0:1–2.
doi:10.1136/jech-2022-218826
ORCID iD
GabrielaKsinan Jiskrova http://orcid.org/0000-0001-
5795-6917
REFERENCES
1 Xiong J, Lipsitz O, Nasri F, etal. Impact of COVID- 19
pandemic on mental health in the general population:
a systematic review. J Affect Disord 2020;277:55–64.
2 Pappa S, Ntella V, Giannakas T, etal. Prevalence of
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3 Office for National Statistics. Coronavirus and its
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4 Baker MG. Nonrelocatable occupations at increased
risk during pandemics: United States, 2018. Am J
Public Health 2020;110:1126–32.
Correspondence to Dr Gabriela Ksinan Jiskrova,
Recetox, Masaryk University Faculty of Science, Brno,
Czech Republic; gabriela. ksinanova@ recetox. muni. cz
Commentary
on March 18, 2022 by guest. Protected by copyright.http://jech.bmj.com/J Epidemiol Community Health: first published as 10.1136/jech-2022-218826 on 16 March 2022. Downloaded from
2Ksinan JiskrovaG. J Epidemiol Community Health Month 2022 Vol 0 No 0
Commentary
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on March 18, 2022 by guest. Protected by copyright.http://jech.bmj.com/J Epidemiol Community Health: first published as 10.1136/jech-2022-218826 on 16 March 2022. Downloaded from