Query: employee productivity during COVID 19 lockdown

title: IMPACT OF 'WORK FROM HOME' ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE PRODUCTIVITY IN SOFTWARE INDUSTRY DURING COVID 2019 LOCKDOWN RESULT OF PERCEPTION SURVEY IN INDIA
abstract: The issue of 'Work from home' has been studied by several researchers but most of the studies enquired from the psychological aspect associated with 'Work from home' A few have studied to examine its effect on employee productivity performance Whatever findings have been reported in the extant literature are based on studies for limited number of people at work from home This is the first time the whole world is giving a try to implement 'work from home' with large scale employee involvement Particularly in software industry, the practice is being followed by all most all the software industries in India during the ongoing lockdown for the COVID 19 pandemic In order to quickly get the views of the software professionals on the impact of 'work from home' on employee productivity performance a short survey was carried out As it is a perception based and self reported study the result is not quantitatively substantiated but it gives an idea to take call as to whether such a practice could be a new normal in the IT industry Descriptive statistics have been used as the responses are very limited But nevertheless, the study period is very current and responders have given real time feeling hence it is more reliable The result shows that at least, if not increased, the employee productivity level has not been reduced

title: Mindsets about remote work predict employee well being in home office: Evidence from the COVID 19 pandemic
abstract: During the COVID 19 pandemic, millions of employees worldwide transitioned to remote work. As remote work continues to characterize the post crisis world of work, it is imperative to understand predictors of employee adjustment to remote work. The current research explores the extent to which individuals hold a fixed mindset about remote work (e.g. that a person either is or is not suited to remote work and this cannot be changed) and tested how this mindset shaped remote worker well being during the coronavirus lockdown. In a longitudinal five week study of 113 employees working remotely in Switzerland, we find that employees who endorsed a more fixed mindset about remote work experienced more negative emotion and reduced positive emotion during remote work. Further, the increased negative emotion prompted by fixed mindsets was associated with lesser perceived productivity among these employees. We conclude that encouraging employees to view remote work as a skill that can be learned and developed could help employees thrive in the new world of work. Keywords remote work, telecommuting, employee well being, productivity, mindsets ABOUT THE AUTHOR/S Lauren C. Howe Howe University of Zurich lauren.howe@business.uzh.ch Dr. Lauren C. Howe is a postdoctoral scholar working with Prof. Jochen Menges at the Chair of Human Resource Management and Leadership at the University of Zurich. Her research examines the critical role of beliefs, expectations, and social relationships in organizational contexts and illustrate how considering their influence can lead to novel insights. Her website is here: http:/www.laurenchowe.com/ Jochen I. Menges University of Zurich jochen.menges@uzh.ch Professor Jochen Menges holds the Chair of Human Resource Management and Leadership at the Department of Business Administration at the University of Zurich. He received his doctoral degree in management from the University of St. Gallen, spent a year at the Graduate School of Arts and Science at Yale University, and completed undergraduate and graduate degrees in psychology at the University of Heidelberg. He also works as a Lecturer in Organizational Behaviour at Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge and has previously served as the Chair of Leadership and HRM at WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management in Dusseldorf. Professor Menges's research focuses on the social dynamics between leaders and followers, and on the role of emotions and motivation in organizational life. He studies how leaders can successfully inspire people to pursue collective goals and how people can work together in ways that contribute to their productivity and well being. New Future of Work 2020, August 3 5, 2020 (c) 2020 Copyright held by the owner/author(s)

title: www.econstor.eu Labour and technology at the time of Covid 19. Can artificial intelligence mitigate the need for proximity?
abstract: Social distancing has become worldwide the key public policy to be implemented during the COVID 19 epidemic and reducing the degree of proximity among workers turned out to be an important dimension. An emerging literature looks at the role of automation in supporting the work of humans but the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to influence the need for physical proximity on the workplace has been left largely unexplored. By using a unique and innovative dataset that combines data on advancements of AI at the occupational level with information on the required proximity in the job place and administrative employer employee data on job flows, our results show that AI and proximity stand in an inverse U shape relationship at the sectoral level, with high advancements in AI that are negatively associated with proximity. We detect this pattern among sectors that were closed due to the lockdown measures as well as among sectors that remained open. We argue that, apart from the expected gains in productivity and competitiveness, preserving jobs and economic activities in a situation of high contagion may be the additional benefits of a policy favouring digitization. Keyword: artificial intelligence, automation, covid19, proximity *Francesco Carbonero: francesco.carbonero@unito.it. Sergio Scicchitano: s.scicchitano@inapp.com. We would like to thank Salvatore Marsiglia for his valuable research assistance. Moreover, we are grateful to Mauro Caselli, Andrea Fracasso, Aldo Geuna, Davide Vannoni as well as to the participants of the Covid Workshop organized by Collegio Carlo Alberto for useful comments. Francesco Carbonero thanks Collegio Carlo Alberto for its support. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of INAPP.

title: Time use and productivity during the COVID 19 lockdown: Evidence from the UK
abstract: The UK nationwide COVID 19 lockdown resulted in drastic changes to work arrangements and many individuals continue to work from home post lockdown. To examine the effects of the lockdown on time use and productivity, we conduct a nationally representative survey of working age adults. We find that time use significantly changed during the lockdown, with more time spent on sleeping, mass media consumption, and household related activities, and less time spent on work related activities, social activities, and travelling. Using a revealed preference method, we estimate that the proportion of time spent on individuals' most preferred activities decreases during lockdown. Selfreported productivity also decreases by 2 4 percentage points. Both of these effects are heterogeneous across age, gender, and household composition, with women and those with young children experiencing the largest declines. Taken together, our findings emphasise the need for employer support for workers shifting to regular home working or other flexible work arrangements.

title: Eating habits and lifestyle changes during COVID 19 lockdown: an Italian survey
abstract: On December 12th 2019, a new coronavirus (SARS Cov2) emerged in Wuhan, China, sparking a pandemic of acute respiratory syndrome in humans (COVID 19) On the 24th of April 2020, the number of COVID 19 deaths in the world, according to the COVID Case Tracker by Johns Hopkins University, was 195,313, and the number of COVID 19 confirmed cases was 2,783,512. The COVID 19 pandemic represents a massive impact on human health, causing sudden lifestyle changes, through social distancing and isolation at home, with social and economic consequences. Optimizing public health during this pandemic requires not only knowledge from the medical and biological sciences, but also of all human sciences related to lifestyle, social and behavioural studies, including dietary habits and lifestyle.  Our study aimed to investigate the immediate impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on eating habits and lifestyle changes among the Italian population aged 12 years. The study comprised a structured questionnaire packet that inquired demographic information (age, gender, place of residence, current employment) anthropometric data (reported weight and height) dietary habits information (adherence to the Mediterranean diet, daily intake of certain foods, food frequency, and number of meals/day) lifestyle habits information (grocery shopping, habit of smoking, sleep quality and physical activity) The survey was conducted from the 5th to the 24th of April 2020.  A total of 3533 respondents have been included in the study, aged between 12 and 86 years (76.1% females) The perception of weight gain was observed in 48.6% of the population; 3.3% of smokers decided to quit smoking; a slight increased physical activity has been reported, especially for bodyweight training, in 38.3% of respondents; the population group aged 18 30 years resulted in having a higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet when compared to the younger and the elderly population (p 0.001; p 0.001, respectively) 15% of respondents turned to farmers or organic, purchasing fruits and vegetables, especially in the North and Center of Italy, where BMI values were lower.  In this study, we have provided for the first time data on the Italian population lifestyle, eating habits and adherence to the Mediterranean Diet pattern during the COVID 19 lockdown. However, as the COVID 19 pandemic is ongoing, our data need to be confirmed and investigated in future more extensive population studies.

title: Changes in sleep pattern, sense of time and digital media use during COVID 19 lockdown in Italy
abstract: Italy is one of the major COVID 19 hotspots. To reduce the spread of the infections and the pressure on Italian healthcare systems, since March 10, 2020, Italy has been under a total lockdown, forcing people into home confinement. Here we present data from 1,310 people living in the Italian territory (Mage 23.91 3.60 years, 880 females, 501 workers, 809 university students) who completed an online survey from March 24 to March 28, 2020. In the survey, we asked participants to think about their use of digital media before going to bed, their sleep pattern and their subjective experience of time in the previous week (March 17 23, which was the second week of the lockdown) and up to the first week of February (February 3 10, before any restriction in any Italian area) During the lockdown, people increased the usage of digital media near bedtime, but this change did not affect sleep habits. Nevertheless, during home confinement, sleep timing markedly changed, with people going to bed and waking up later, and spending more time in bed, but, paradoxically, also reporting a lower sleep quality. The increase in sleep difficulties was stronger for people with a higher level of depression, anxiety and stress symptomatology, and associated with the feeling of elongation of time. Considering that the lockdown is likely to continue for weeks, research data are urgently needed to support decision making, to build public awareness and to provide timely and supportive psychosocial interventions.

title: Enhanced secondary pollution offset reduction of primary emissions during COVID 19 lockdown in China
abstract: To control the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID 19) China imposed nationwide restrictions on the movement of its population (lockdown) after the Chinese New Year of 2020, leading to large reductions in economic activities and associated emissions. Despite such large decreases in primary pollution, there were nonetheless several periods of heavy haze pollution in East China, raising questions about the well established relationship between human activities and air quality. Here, using comprehensive measurements and modeling, we show the haze during the COVID lockdown were driven by enhancements of secondary pollution. In particular, large decreases in NOx emissions from transportation increased ozone and nighttime NO3 radical formation, and these increases in atmospheric oxidizing capacity in turn facilitated the formation of secondary particulate matter. Our results, afforded by the tragic natural experiment of the COVID 19 pandemic, indicate that haze mitigation depends upon a coordinated and balanced strategy for controlling multiple pollutants.

title: Dietary Choices and Habits during COVID 19 Lockdown: Experience from Poland
abstract: The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID 19) in late December 2019 in China, which later developed into a pandemic, has forced different countries to implement strict sanitary regimes and social distancing measures. Globally, at least four billion people were under lockdown, working remotely, homeschooling children, and facing challenges coping with quarantine and the stressful events. The present cross sectional online survey of adult Poles (n 1097) conducted during a nationwide quarantine, aimed to assess whether nutritional and consumer habits have been affected under these conditions. Over 43.0% and nearly 52% reported eating and snacking more, respectively, and these tendencies were more frequent in overweight and obese individuals. Almost 30% and over 18% experienced weight gain (mean SD 3.0 1.6 kg) and loss 2.9 1.5 kg) respectively. Overweight, obese, and older subjects (aged 36 45 and >45) tended to gain weight more frequently, whereas those with underweight tended to lose it further. Increased BMI was associated with less frequent consumption of vegetables, fruit, and legumes during quarantine, and higher adherence to meat, dairy, and fast foods. An increase in alcohol consumption was seen in 14.6% with a higher tendency to drink more found among alcohol addicts. Over 45% of smokers experienced a rise in smoking frequency during the quarantine. The study highlights that lockdown imposed to contain an infectious agent may affect eating behaviors and dietary habits, and advocates for organized nutritional support during future epidemic related quarantines, particularly for the most vulnerable groups, including overweight and obese subjects.

title: Amplified ozone pollution in cities during the COVID 19 lockdown
abstract: The effect of lockdown due to coronavirus disease (COVID 19) pandemic on air pollution in four Southern European cities (Nice, Rome, Valencia and Turin) and Wuhan (China) was quantified, with a focus on ozone (O3) Compared to the same period in 2017 2019, the daily O3 mean concentrations increased at urban stations by 24% in Nice, 14% in Rome, 27% in Turin, 2.4% in Valencia and 36% in Wuhan during the lockdown in 2020. This increase in O3 concentrations is mainly explained by an unprecedented reduction in NOx emissions leading to a lower O3 titration by NO. Strong reductions in NO2 mean concentrations were observed in all European cities, ~53% at urban stations, comparable to Wuhan (57% and ~65% at traffic stations. NO declined even further, ~63% at urban stations and ~78% at traffic stations in Europe. Reductions in PM2.5 and PM10 at urban stations were overall much smaller both in magnitude and relative change in Europe ~8% than in Wuhan ~42% The PM reductions due to limiting transportation and fuel combustion in institutional and commercial buildings were partly offset by increases of PM emissions from the activities at home in some of the cities. The NOx concentrations during the lockdown were on average 49% lower than those at weekends of the previous years in all cities. The lockdown effect on O3 production was ~10% higher than the weekend effect in Southern Europe and 38% higher in Wuhan, while for PM the lockdown had the same effect as weekends in Southern Europe ~6% of difference) This study highlights the challenge of reducing the formation of secondary pollutants such as O3 even with strict measures to control primary pollutant emissions. These results are relevant for designing abatement policies of urban pollution.

title: Air quality changes during the COVID 19 lockdown over the Yangtze River Delta Region: An insight into the impact of human activity pattern changes on air pollution variation
abstract: The outbreak of COVID 19 has spreaded rapidly across the world. To control the rapid dispersion of the virus, China has imposed national lockdown policies to practise social distancing. This has led to reduced human activities and hence primary air pollutant emissions, which caused improvement of air quality as a side product. To investigate the air quality changes during the COVID 19 lockdown over the YRD Region, we apply the WRF CAMx modelling system together with monitoring data to investigate the impact of human activity pattern changes on air quality. Results show that human activities were lowered significantly during the period: industrial operations, VKT, constructions in operation, etc. were significantly reduced, leading to lowered SO2, NO x PM2.5 and VOCs emissions by approximately 16 26% 29 47% 27 46% and 37 57% during the Level I and Level II response periods respectively. These emission reduction has played a significant role in the improvement of air quality. Concentrations of PM2.5, NO2 and SO2 decreased by 31.8% 45.1% and 20.4% during the Level I period; and 33.2% 27.2% and 7.6% during the Level II period compared with 2019. However, ozone did not show any reduction and increased greatly. Our results also show that even during the lockdown, with primary emissions reduction of 15% 61% the daily average PM2.5 concentrations range between 15 and 79 mg m 3, which shows that background and residual pollutions are still high. Source apportionment results indicate that the residual pollution of PM2.5 comes from industry (32.2 61.1% mobile (3.9 8.1% dust (2.6 7.7% residential sources (2.1 28.5% in YRD and 14.0 28.6% contribution from long range transport coming from northern China. This indicates that in spite of the extreme reductions in primary emissions, it cannot fully tackle the current air pollution. Re organisation of the energy and industrial strategy together with trans regional joint control for a full long term air pollution plan need to be further taken into account.