Rapid Review on COVID-19, Work-Related Aspects, and Age Differences

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the labor market and multiple aspects of work and workers’ life. The present rapid review analyzes this impact considering the effects that COVID-19 pandemic had on employment and work-related aspects across different age groups. A comprehensive literature search was performed on scientific contributions published between 2019 and March 2021, resulting in 36 papers pertinent to the scope of this review. Findings were grouped according to different topics, all linked to age: occupational risk, implications on the labor market (i.e., job loss and reemployment, job insecurity, turnover intentions and retirement, and healthcare workers’ return-to-work phase), remote work, and key individual and organizational resources and strategies. Overall, the review revealed variability across age groups in the impact this pandemic had on employment and several work-related aspects (i.e., occupational risk, remote work). Findings supported an age-differential effect of normative history-graded events such as the current pandemic, highlighting different responses and consequences depending on workers’ age.

Determinants of workers’ well-being during the COVID-19 outbreak: An exploratory study

“…The impact of the measures is reflected by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decrease of about 4.7% points (Italian Statistical Agency 30-4-2020) with respect to the previous quarter, and by 4.8% over the same quarter of the previous year: a data threatening an upcoming devastating economic recession. The COVID-19 pandemic was definitely an event that impacted work and the lives and well-being of workers (Bellotti et al, 2021;Canet-Juric et al, 2020;Mo et al, 2020).…”

“…The COVID-19 outbreak is an unprecedented event in recent times, with a tremendous negative threat to inviduals' adjustment (e.g., Alessandri et al, 2021;Bellotti et al, 2021;Canet-Juric et al, 2020), public health as well as to the economic system. For example, in the United States alone, the estimated economic damage to the labour market caused by the crisis is greater than that of the Great Recession or the 2008 crisis (Coibion et al, 2020).…”

“…Therefore, in this study, we exploratively looked at the different impact of a large set of job-related, personal, and social stressors and resources, as well as their interactions. These stressors and resources were derived partly by previous similar studies (Alessandri et al 2020;Bellotti et al, 2021;St-Denis, 2020), partly by focus group and discussion group promoted by researchers rooted in four Italian Universities, and partly theoretically derived by the psychological literature, as explained below. Below, we present in detail the resources and the stressors we investigated in this study, organized by area.…”

Resilience during Crisis and the Role of Age: Involuntary Telework during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The fundamental changes in working conditions, along with other pandemic-related impacts on private life, constituted an unusual, long-lasting stressor for employees. Relatively older employees may be particularly vulnerable, as they face an increased health risk if they catch the virus and may feel less technologically competent [4]. Moreover, a recent rapid review found that older workers perceived remote work more negatively and reported more communication breakdowns and tensions between generations, which was likely exacerbated by stereotypes against older workers that were perpetrated by organizations and governments [4].…”

Age-Differentiated Leadership and Healthy Aging at Work: Evidence from the Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered the way in which work is conducted, with some suggesting that higher employee age may be a risk factor for diminished wellbeing at work in the face of the pandemic [ 5 , 6 ]. Despite this, research on the experience of healthy aging at work during the pandemic remains scarce thus far [ 7 ].…”