Flexible working during the COVID-19 pandemic: gains and strains in a Chinese state-owned organisation

PurposeThis study aims to identify and analyse the gains and strains associated with flexible working practices (FWPs) introduced and adopted prior to and during the pandemic and consider how these experiences are likely to shape the future of workplace flexibility post-pandemic. Design/methodology/approachA case study research strategy was adopted to explore the FWPs implemented by a state-owned organisation in the Chinese publishing industry. A mixed data collection method was used. Quantitative data was collected from 50 valid questionnaires, which was followed by 7 qualitative interviews to gain rich insights into the availability and effectiveness of various FWPs and associated benefits and drawbacks. FindingsWhile the results confirm positive effects FWPs have on employee engagement and retention and on business continuity and employee well-being during the pandemic, the empirical analysis highlights the performance-driven patterns in use and impacts of some FWPs, which caused concerns and dilemmas. Besides the increasing intense market competition, the changing face of state-owned enterprises and managerial attitudes have been found to have significant effects on the use of FWPs. Originality/valueThis paper has contributed to a better understanding of flexible working in an under-researched setting, reflected in changes before and during the pandemic, offering an insight into the commercialised nature of flexible working in the Chinese context. It has implications for organisations and HR practitioners as they envision future workplace flexibility.

An Design of Elevator Buttons with Disinfecting Function based on Ultraviolet C Ray

The spread of COVID-19 that derived from SARS-CoV-2 has brought serious disasters to human society. Especially in places such as hospitals and hotels where are densely populated, the close contact of people is more likely cause the spread of the virus. So in this paper, we develop a novel automatic electromechanical device, i.e. elevator button with disinfection function, for such places. The disinfection principle is mainly from that the far ultraviolet c (UVC as abbreviation) ray has good inactivation effect on SARS-Cov-2, and we use STM32 to control a proposed ratchet mechanism to drive the ultraviolet lamp to disinfect the elevator button when there are few people at night while to work normally in the day time. Finally the experiment verifies that the proposed device can work safely and disinfect virus effectively.