Social distancing causing crises: learning from workforce adaptation by e-tailers

PurposeThis study explores workforce related adaptation by e-tailers during social distancing causing crises (SDCC) and provides a conceptual framework.Design/methodology/approachA grounded theory based approach has been used wherein about 120 news articles were analyzed to understand the real-world measures taken. 50 journal papers were also referred to. A typical qualitative methodology, including open, and axial was used.FindingsIn the early stages, panic buying emerged as the key disrupting factor which necessitated staff shortage management. In the long term, e-tailers can adapt to prevent reverse worker migration and modify their hiring and training processes.Research limitations/implicationsThis study synthesizes knowledge on workforce-related adaptation by e-tailers and offers considerable potential for future research as well as the development of case studies and consulting services for the industry. Two research propositions are offered that can guide hypothesis generation and further studies can be conducted in sectors other than retail also.Practical implicationsThis study puts forward propositions based on theoretical dimensions for managers adapting to workforce-related problems during SDCC. The pandemic has led to vast unemployment and the shutting down of a number of businesses across the globe due to economic downfall. Hence, this study has economic and social implications.Originality/valueThis study is unique as it is one of the few that delves into e-tailers' workforce- related adaptation as SDCC evolves and contributes to a body of literature which is scarce.

Classics and the Precariat

WHEN I (CHIARA) TOOK UP MY POSITION at Vanderbilt in 2016, I was given a one-year contract. Since I teach at a well-resourced university, there was a network of child care centers where I could enroll my child—a nice perk that many academic jobs do not include. While those with full-time or tenure-stream positions may not have had to worry about health insurance coverage or paid sick leave (Douglas-Gabriel 2020), questions continue to abound over hiring, pay freezes or cuts (Woolston 2021), parental leave policies and tenure clock extensions, as colleges and universities have scrambled to develop clear and equitable responses to the crisis. [...]the grand revelation of COVID is that, in the words of Chris Caterine, author of Leaving Academia, "All faculty are contingent.” For this reason, programs should be encouraged to work toward converting long-term contingent faculty members into tenured or tenure-track hires whenever possible, or to ensure that contingent positions have as much security and permanence as possible through the use of longer-term contracts.

IN THE Wake

ASQ survey shows how job seekers, employers alike leverage online tools and new credentials to navigate a sometimes-choppy, challenging job market created by COVID-19 Maybe you're a quality professional wondering whether your career is all it can be. To learn more about those effects, ASQ sent out a pulse survey to 7,400 members in March to reach below the surface and take a closer look into how this historic phenomenon is affecting hiring practices and career development in the quality arena. [...]the infographic, "The Next Wave" (pp. 20-21), highlights the valuable ASQ resources that can help improve your abilities and credentials, buoying your chances for a successful job search or promotion. An estimate from late March had 44% of U.S. citizens currently seeking a new position.1 The pulse survey suggests, however, that the wave of resignations may not be slamming the quality profession as hard as it has hit other parts of the economy.

AI adoption in the hiring process – important criteria and extent of AI adoption

PurposeIn the context of new workplace environment, this study aims to study and generate insights about artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in hiring process of firms. It is very relevant when AI is dramatically reshaping hiring function in the changing scenario.Design/methodology/approachThe objectives are achieved with the help of three studies involving Delphi method to explore the criteria for AI adoption decision. Followed by two multi criteria decision-making techniques, i.e. analytic hierarchy process to identify weights of the criteria and fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution to assess the extent of AI adoption in hiring.FindingsThe findings reveal that information security and return on investment are considered two very important criteria by human resources managers while contemplating the adoption of AI in hiring process. It was found that AI adoption will be suitable at the sourcing and initial screening stages of hiring. And the suitability of the hiring stage where AI can be applied has been found to have changed from before and after the onset of COVID-19 pandemic situation. The findings and its discussion assist and enhance better decisions about AI adoption in hiring processes of firms amid changing scenario – external and internal to a firm.Research limitations/implicationsFindings also highlight research implications for future research studies in this emerging area.Practical implicationsResults act as a starting point for other human resources managers, who are still pondering over the idea of adopting AI in hiring in future.Originality/valueThis paper through a systematic approach contributes by identifying important evaluation criteria influencing AI adoption in firms and extent of its application in the stages of hiring. It makes a substantial contribution to the under-developed yet emerging paradigm of AI based hiring in practice and research.

Labor Market Returns to MBAs From Less‐Selective Universities: Evidence From a Field Experiment During COVID‐19

Master's degree enrollment and debt have increased substantially in recent years, raising important questions about the labor market value of these credentials. Using a field experiment featuring 9,480 job applications submitted during the early months of the COVID‐19 pandemic, I examine employers' responses to job candidates with a Master of Business Administration (MBA), which represents one‐quarter of all master's degrees in the United States. I focus on MBAs from three types of less‐selective institutions that collectively enroll the vast majority of master's students: for‐profit, online, and regional universities. Despite the substantial time and expense required for these degrees, job candidates with MBAs from all three types of institutions received positive responses from employers at the same rate as candidates who only had a bachelor's degree—even for positions that listed a preference for a master's degree. Additionally, applicants with names suggesting they were Black men received 30 percent fewer positive responses than otherwise equivalent applicants whose names suggested they were White men or women, providing further evidence of racial discrimination in hiring practices.

How Has the Pandemic Affected Career Satisfaction and Employment Perceptions of Faculty in Health Administration?

Employee satisfaction has been shown to affect productivity and turnover among faculty in higher education. The COVID-19 pandemic has required significant organizational changes in higher education, including hiring freezes, furloughs, and a rapid move to online teaching. Little is known about the effects of these changes on health administration faculty. Therefore, the current study utilizes data from a national survey of health administration faculty conducted in 2018 and 2021 to perform three analyses: quantification of the proportion of faculty respondents experiencing furloughs or whose depart ments implemented a hiring freeze brought upon by the pandemic;changes in career satisfaction and employment perceptions between the years 2018 and 2021;and a cross-sectional analysis of the relationship between furloughs and/ or hiring freezes and 2021 career satisfaction and employment perceptions. Overall, 17.9% experienced a furlough and 81.4% indicated their department had a hiring freeze. We observed no significant changes in career satisfaction or employment perceptions from 2018 to 2021. However, receipt of furloughs was negatively associated with multiple indicators of career satisfaction and employment perceptions. The results of this study will be of interest to health administration program administrators and faculty as well as leaders in higher education who would benefit from understanding the impact of the pandemic on faculty more broadly.

The short-term impact of the 2020 pandemic lockdown on employment in Greece.

This paper analyzes the short-term employment impact of the COVID-19 lockdown in Greece during the first few months following the pandemic onset. During the initial lockdown period, aggregate employment was lower by almost 9 percentage points than it would have been expected based on pre-pandemic employment trends. However, due to a government intervention that prohibited layoffs, this was not due to higher separation rates. The overall short-term employment impact was due to lower hiring rates. To uncover the mechanism behind this, we use a difference-in-differences framework, and show that tourism-related activities, which are exposed to seasonal variation, had significantly lower employment entry rates in the months following the pandemic onset compared to non-tourism activities. Our results highlight the relevance of the timing of unanticipated shocks in economies with strong seasonal patterns, and the relative effectiveness of policy interventions to partly absorb the consequences of such shocks.

Avatar: The new employee? Creating online employment personas may benefit stigmatized employees

Comments on an article by Annika Wilcox et al. (see record 2023-01470-003). Although we appreciate and agree with the conclusions that come to in their review of the literature related to cybervetting, our intention in this response is to discuss the potential utility of cybervetting in a post-COVID world in which fully remote employment is much more prevalent. Specifically, we draw parallels to other contexts in which individuals interact completely remotely successfully and highlight how such arrangements can actually be beneficial-rather than detrimental-to employees with stigmatized identities or characteristics. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Impact of employees’ internal factors and job performance on organizational commitment in government organizations during COVID-19: Evidence from Kuwait

Modern hiring practices based on qualification, gender discrimination, person-job fit, and life satisfaction can allow employees to perform effectively and significantly contribute to organizational commitment. Thus, the study aims to develop and test a structural model that integrates the relationships between overqualification, life satisfaction, person-job fit, employees’ job performance, and organizational commitment during the COVID-19 pandemic in the public organizations of Kuwait. The person-job fit theory was applied to obtain fair results. Thus, the data were collected from 275 employees working in healthcare institutions, the education sector, and the Ministry of Defense in Kuwait. Overall, the results show a significant and direct impact of overqualification and life satisfaction on employees’ job performance;accordingly, employees’ job performance also affects organizational commitment. Thus, results indicate that person-job fit negatively affects employees’ job performance. Surprisingly, employees’ job performance mediates the relationship between overqualification, life satisfaction, and organizational commitment. However, employees’ job performance does not mediate the relationship between person-job fit and organizational commitment. The current paper contributes to understanding the broad impact of overqualification, life satisfaction, and employees’ job performance on organizational commitment during the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly in public organizations.

Social distancing causing crises: learning from workforce adaptation by e-tailers

Purpose: This study explores workforce related adaptation by e-tailers during social distancing causing crises (SDCC) and provides a conceptual framework. Design/methodology/approach: A grounded theory based approach has been used wherein about 120 news articles were analyzed to understand the real-world measures taken. 50 journal papers were also referred to. A typical qualitative methodology, including open, and axial was used. Findings: In the early stages, panic buying emerged as the key disrupting factor which necessitated staff shortage management. In the long term, e-tailers can adapt to prevent reverse worker migration and modify their hiring and training processes. Research limitations/implications: This study synthesizes knowledge on workforce-related adaptation by e-tailers and offers considerable potential for future research as well as the development of case studies and consulting services for the industry. Two research propositions are offered that can guide hypothesis generation and further studies can be conducted in sectors other than retail also. Practical implications: This study puts forward propositions based on theoretical dimensions for managers adapting to workforce-related problems during SDCC. The pandemic has led to vast unemployment and the shutting down of a number of businesses across the globe due to economic downfall. Hence, this study has economic and social implications. Originality/value: This study is unique as it is one of the few that delves into e-tailers’ workforce- related adaptation as SDCC evolves and contributes to a body of literature which is scarce. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Can Customers Affect Racial Discrimination in Hiring?

While significant scholarship has documented the prevalence of racial discrimination in hiring, less is known about the forces that exacerbate or mitigate it. In this article, we develop a theoretical argument about the ability of customers to influence racial discrimination in hiring, highlighting the role of direct customer communication and its intersection with online review systems. We deploy a novel method to test our argument. Specifically, we draw on original data from a two-part field experiment that first randomly assigned restaurants to receive one of three different email messages from customers and then audited the restaurants to test for racial discrimination in hiring. While our data collection effort was cut short and disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, making our findings more exploratory than initially anticipated, our data provide evidence that customer communication can reduce racial discrimination under certain conditions. We discuss the implications of these findings for scholarship on organizational decision-making, discrimination, and methodological approaches for studying these topics. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Social Psychology Quarterly is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

‘Harvest work, migration, and the structured phenomenology of time’

The paper draws on Rosa's three dimensions of the structured phenomenology of time - daily time, longer time, and historical time - as a conceptual lens to analyse the lived experiences and structural framing of temporary farm work in the UK and to address the question: how is it that short-term precarious work remains the accepted solution for agricultural work even under conditions that challenge the status quo. We draw on qualitative research with farmers and workers conducted prior to and during Brexit and Covid-19. We note that farmers and workers alike have found ways to accept and adjust to seasonal migrant labour as a taken-for-granted solution to the pressures of daily farm life. Further, farmers contend that seasonal migrant work is essential to secure the longer-term viability of their farms, while migrant workers' longer-term view involves delayed gratification in a 'dual frame of reference'. Local workers, alternatively, cannot imagine farm work as providing a long-term future. When looking historically at farm life, farmers and workers alike invoke changing epochs, to explain current conditions as the conditions of our times, and thus to deny their own agency. Structural-economic shifts are thus never addressed and other ways of doing things never imagined.

HIRING AND BEING HIRED: FACULTY MEMBERS SHARE THEIR STORIES

Five researchers offer advice on how to recruit and retain talented students and colleagues, based on their own experiences of being hired, and of hiring colleagues to join their research groups. LARA URBAN BE FAIR AND CONSIDER USING SOCIAL MEDIA I began my own research group at Helmholtz Munich, the German Research Center for Environmental Health, in June 2022. [...]I make use of social media, especially Twitter, to share research openings. Lara Urban is a conservation genomics researcher and principal investigator at the Helmholtz Pioneer Campus and Helmholtz AI in Munich, Germany, and at the Technical University of Munich School of Life Sciences in Freising, Germany.

Building provincial capacity for sustainable agricultural mechanisation in Nepal

This project was originally envisaged as an 18-month development-oriented project based in Provinces 1 and 2 of the Nepal Terai. It aimed to build solidarity and teamwork around the drive for agri-mechanisation in each of these two provincial governments. Unfortunately, the short time frame paired with intensive efforts to establish new relationships and then the onset of COVID-19 meant that there was limited scope to deeply develop these new relationships and fully build the envisaged roadmap process and plans. Regardless of this, the project has made some essential steps in improving provincial agri-mechanisation planning and implementation, including: (1) substantial capacity developed though placement of engineering experts within the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), the Ministries of Agriculture, Land Management and Cooperatives (MoLMAC), various cooperatives and agricultural knowledge centres;(2) new and deepened relationships with and between key stakeholders, and particularly between NARC and provincial government, as well as with and between various cooperatives;(3) development of the first quantification of the status of agri-mechanisation on the Nepal Terai - indicating that there is high potential for rapid mechanisation if some key constraints are addressed;(4) publication of the learnings for a review of mechanisation in India and Bangladesh, and what that means for Nepal's agri-mechanisation planning;(5) regional learnings and new collaborations with various stakeholders in Nepal and West Bengal;(6) a national symposium on agri-mechanisation on the Nepal Terai, with a large number of supported individuals attending and learning from the national Agrimechanisation Fair;(7) development of a "roadmap" process that can be used more widely with additional further development;and (8) technical guidance and relationship building to improve the scaling of government supported custom hire centres in Province 1.

Pandemic transitions: impact on business school campus recruitments

Purpose This study aims to examine the transitions in hiring criteria by recruiting companies in top ten Quacquarelli Symonds ranked business schools in India during the pandemic. Design/methodology/approach Using an exploratory lens, an in-depth semistructured interview was conducted with 20 recruiting companies across industries and roles. Findings Content analysis suggests the changing preferences in hiring criteria and identifies six themes that have assumed importance during the pandemic period. Research limitations/implications This study has implications for business school participants who need to change their preparation strategy during the placement season. Practical implications There is an opportunity for business schools to focus on these two soft skills, namely, self-management with self-discipline and oral and written communication across the platform. However, in the depth and diversity of soft skills training, there is often a shallow coverage of multiple skills. The rather focused approach to developing these two skills may go a long way in preparing work-delivery graduates who could hit the proverbial ground running as the first step into their careers. Originality/value This study contributes to hiring managers by suggesting the traits that may assume importance in the new normal where remote or hybrid working context is a necessity.

Times Are Tight: Staff Shortages Prompt New Strategies

Both the ACR, through its workforce survey, and the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), through its Workforce Task Force, are performing "deep dives into data analysis to evaluate the staffing and hiring landscape;final results are not yet available. Statistics for average budgeted FTEs for five other modalities for 2021 vs 2003 are: * Computed tomography, 6.2, up from 3.4;* Magnetic resonance imaging, 4.7, up from 1.7;* Mammography, 4.9, up from 2.1;* Nuclear medicine, 3.6, up from 1.8;and, * Sonography, 5.0, up from 2.6 The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that radiologic and MRI technologist employment will grow 9% by 2030, about as fast as the average for all occupations, estimating 20,800 openings for these positions each year, on average.2 The BLS statistics point to a trend that more technologists will be needed to meet growing demand for imaging services. In radiation oncology, a lack of programs is contributing to shortages of physicists and dosimetrists and, to a lesser extent, radiation therapists, says Bruce G Haffty, MD, FACR, FASTRO, FASCO, chair of ASTRO's workforce subcommittee, associate vice chancellor of Cancer Programs at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, and professor and chair of the department of radiation oncology at Robert Wood Johnson and NJ Medical School, Rutgers Cancer Institute of NJ. "People have taken a step back to ask themselves, 'Is this really what I want to continue to do?'" She says the trend may impact her institution's ability to bring new talent into the profession and may even reduce the number of applicants to radiologic technology programs, "because people don't want to work in a hospital anymore."

Lives Put on Hold: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Canada's Youth

According to the "scar theory," past unemployment can lead to long-term poor labour-market outcomes in terms of an increased incidence of unemployment in the future, and employment in lower quality and lower paying jobs. To support youth during the recovery and alleviate potential negative long-term effects, Canadian governments (at all levels) need to ensure that young Canadians are equipped with relevant skills, support them to make up for learning losses and consider targeted labour market programs and policies that help encourage greater participation and ease the transition into employment and better jobs for young Canadians who still face difficulties finding employment. According to the "scar theory," past unemployment can lead to long-term poor labourmarket outcomes in terms of an increased incidence unemployment in the future, and employment in lower quality and lower paying jobs (Heckman and Borjas 1980;Arulampalam, Gregg, and Gregory 2001). Canada can do more to support youth who remain unable to find employment and address learning losses to mitigate long-term negative effects by taking the following steps. * Expand employment services (counselling and job search assistance) to reduce unemployment duration and recurrence;* Enhance labour-market flexibility and

Valuing Diversity and Inclusion in Health Care to Equip the Workforce: Survey Study and Pathway Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic, with all its virus variants, remains a serious situation. Health systems across the United States are trying their best to respond. On average, the health care workforce is relatively homogenous, even though it cares for a highly diverse array of patients. This perennial problem in the US health care workforce has only been accentuated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical workers should reflect on the variety of patients they care for and strive to understand their mindsets within the larger contexts of culture, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, and socioeconomic realities. Along with talent and skills, diversity and inclusion (D&I) are essential for maintaining a workforce that can treat the myriad needs and populations that health systems serve. Developing hiring strategies that will help achieve greater workforce diversity remains a challenge for health system leaders. OBJECTIVE: The primary aims of this study were to: (1) explore the characteristics of US health systems and their associations with D&I practices and benefits, (2) examine the associations between D&I practices and three pathways to equip workforces, and (3) examine the associations between the three pathways to better equip workforces and business and service benefits. The three pathways are: (1) improving D&I among existing employees (IMPROVE), (2) using multiple channels to find and recruit the workforce (RECRUIT), and (3) collaborating with universities to find new talent and establish plans to train students (COLLABORATE). METHODS: During February to March 2021, 625 health systems in the United States were surveyed with the help of a consultant, 135 (21.6%) of whom responded. We assessed workforce talent- and diversity-relevant factors. We collected secondary data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Compendium of the US Health Systems, leading to a matched data set of 124 health systems for analysis. We first explored differences in diversity practices and benefits across the health systems. We then examined the relationships among diversity practices, pathways, and benefits. RESULTS: Health system characteristics such as size, location, ownership, teaching, and revenue have varying associations with diversity practices and outcomes. D&I and talent strategies exhibited different associations with the three workforce pathways. Regarding the mediating effects, the IMPROVE pathway seems to be more effective than the RECRUIT and COLLABORATE pathways, enabling the diversity strategy to prompt business or service benefits. Moreover, these pathway effects go hand-in-hand with a talent strategy, indicating that both talent and diversity strategies need to be aligned to achieve the best results for a health system. CONCLUSIONS: Diversity and talent plans can be aligned to realize multiple desired benefits for health systems. However, a one-size-fits-all approach is not a viable strategy for improving D&I. Health systems need to follow a multipronged approach based on their characteristics. To get D&I right, proactive plans and genuine efforts are essential.

"You Cannot Be What You Cannot See"1: The Lived Experiences of Women Teaching Digital Literacy in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Germany

This timely paper provides empirical evidence on the lived experiences of ten women from eight nationalities in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Germany, who voluntarily taught girls and women digital skills in 2020. I situated this multi-case feminist study within the digital skills gender divide phenomenon. I collected qualitative data through surveys and interviews with the teachers, remote observations of their digital skills lessons, and analysis of programme documents, including curricula. In this paper, I discuss two research questions: (1) "What motivated the women to teach digital literacy?" and (2) "Why do the teachers think the digital skills gender divide exists?" The hybrid approach to data coding and thematic analysis indicated that the teachers were motivated to teach digital literacy to support their students' selfdevelopment and use digital skills in their daily lives. The teachers at the school in Germany were also motivated by advancing their social capital and societal integration, as six of the eight women teaching in Germany were migrants. The teachers from Bosnia & Herzegovina were motivated by overcoming the systemic gender inequality that the digital skills gender divide encapsulates. The teachers also identified various personal, community, and societal causes of the digital skills gender divide. On the micro-level, they noted that girls engage in risk avoidance behaviour from a young age, limiting their digital skills development. On the mesolevel, women lack exposure to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) within their families and communities. On the macro-level, the teachers in Bosnia & Herzegovina highlighted that girls living in urban areas could access ICT more often than those living in rural areas. This paper offers resolutions to the digital skills gender divide, concluded from the teachers' evidence, such as educational opportunities, gender diversity hiring in technical roles in the ICT sector, and policy development to underpin solutions and incentivise compliance. This paper is my contribution to centralising in the scholarship the lived experiences and perspectives of diverse women who are at the forefront of the digital skills gender divide.

Boomerang hiring: Strategy for sustainable development in COVID-19 era

BACKGROUND: Many companies are forced to restructure themselves by right sizing due to unexpected fall in demand for their products and services created by the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 not only affected the health of human beings but also their wealth across the world. Global economic parameters are showing a sign of positive growth with decreased number of COVID-19 cases across the world. Many companies are in a dilemma to rehire their former employees or to hire the new candidates to meet the increased demand. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of study are i) to analyze the key drivers for boomerang hiring and ii) to develop a conceptual process for boomerang hiring. METHODS: An exploratory methodology was designed to identify the key drivers of boomerang hiring by studying the various successful stories of those companies which had rehired their former employees. Various papers were reviewed to develop the process for boomerang hiring. RESULTS: Study showed that knowledge about the culture of the company, cost of hiring, morale booster for the existing employees, and customer retention, are the key drivers for boomerang hiring. This hiring process requires special skills from HR Managers, as this decision will impact long term success of the company. CONCLUSION: The process of boomerang hiring cannot be standardized as each organization culture is different and companies cannot have the same strategy for each candidate as every individual is different. Boomerang hiring will work as the right strategy during pandemic situation as former employees would have built relations with the customers. The customers will be happy to see the former employees who had served them better.