COVID19, mental wellbeing and work engagement

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore how COVID-19 influences the mental health of old age employees by posing challenges to psychological resilience thus affecting their work engagement. The data was collected from three countries, China, Pakistan, and the UK, through eighteen semi-structured interviews. Three sub-themes emerged under the core theme of “psychological challenges”: “cognitive challenges”, “physical challenges”, and “behavioral challenges”. Similarly, “individual resilience” and “group resilience” emerged under the core theme of “psychological resilience”. The results showed that the mental health of old age employees without having any medical complications was also affected during the pandemic thus resulting in low work engagement. The data was collected from three countries namely China, Pakistan, and the UK. Furthermore, data were collected through telephonic interviews so some aspects of the study might be left unexplored which can only be possible through face to face interaction. This study, in line with the previous literature, indicate that challenges explored related to COVID-19 can significantly influence the mental wellbeing of aging employees. The study also encourages employers to understand the limitations of aging employees and develop flexible policies that can have a positive impact on work engagement. The study presents a novel approach contributing to the knowledge gap of COVID-19 impact on wellbeing and work engagement of healthy but senescent employees.