Library Dissertation Showcase

Perceptions of employees about working virtually during the COVID 19 virus outbreaks

  • Year of Publication:
  • 2020

With the appearance of the internet and technology that allows people to stay connected across geography locations, discussions about virtual work arrangement where co-workers utilize technology to communicate with each other and cooperate to complete the assigned task across geographic and organizational boundaries, are becoming a popular arrangement in new companies in the world. Despite the increasing popularity of virtual working arrangements, this type of working is not widely implemented in China. However, the outspread of the Corona Virus has created the massive reluctant virtual teams in response to the governments’ social distancing order and thus, created an unusual background for a massive experiment for remote or virtual working nationwide. The research was conducted to reveal insights about Chinese workers’ perception toward working virtually while they were forced to work from home with limited preparation. The result of a mix-method study with the involvement of 60 survey respondents and 5 interviewees indicated positive perceptions of Chinese employees toward virtual working including relatively high satisfaction and smooth experience with working virtually during COVID 19. The research sample, however, suggested concerns about the sustainability and productivity of this working arrangement in the long term if the company does not have a long-run strategy to adapt to working virtually.

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