Return to Work during the COVID-19 Outbreak: A Study on the Role of Job Demands, Job Resources, and Personal Resources upon the Administrative Staff of Italian Public Universities

Gloria Guidetti, Daniela Converso, Domenico Sanseverino and Chiara Ghislieri
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Gloria Guidetti: Department of Psychological Sciences, Health and Territory, University of G. d’Annunzio Chieti and Pescara, Via dei Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, Italy
Daniela Converso: Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Via Verdi 10, 10124 Turin, Italy
Domenico Sanseverino: Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Via Verdi 10, 10124 Turin, Italy
Chiara Ghislieri: Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Via Verdi 10, 10124 Turin, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: Background: Compared to healthcare workers and teleworkers, occupational wellbeing of employees who continued or suddenly returned to work during the COVID-19 pandemic have received less attention thus far. Using the Job Demand–Resource model as a framework, the present study aimed at evaluating the role of job demands and job and personal resources in affecting emotional exhaustion among university administrative staff. Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed data collected through an online questionnaire completed by 364 administrative employees that continued working in presence (WP) and 1578 that continued working blended (WB), namely, partly remotely and partly in presence. Results: Among job demands, quantitative job demand overloads and perceived risk of being infected were positively associated with higher levels of emotional exhaustion. Among job resources, colleague support was significantly associated with lower emotional exhaustion for both WB and WP, whereas supervisor support and fatigue management were salient only for WB. Among personal resources, personal contribution in managing COVID-19-related risk at work emerged as a protective factor for emotional exhaustion. Conclusion: Insights for the development of targeted preventive measure for a more psychologically safe and productive return to work can be derived from these results.

Keywords: return to work; quantitative job demands; supervisor support; fatigue management; personal contribution in managing COVID-19; emotional exhaustion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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