Abstract:
The emergence and rapid spread of Covid-19 has resulted in many non-essential businesses having to move employees into a working from home (WFH) framework. This study explores the psychological well-being (PWB) of New Zealand participants to understand how individuals were
affected by the sudden transition to WFH. In particular, this study sheds light on factors such as
work-life balance, organisational support and social capital and the impact these have on PWB.
Several overseas studies have explored the PWB of employees while WFH and reported
that generally PWB decreased for reasons including physical impacts of WFH, fear of
unemployment and threats to work-life balance. The New Zealand government took a hardline
approach to Covid-19 and locked down the country when there were 155 cases. New Zealand’s
approach kept cases comparatively low and as such, the initial lockdown lasted seven weeks,
shorter than many overseas lockdowns. This study looks at the PWB of New Zealanders while
WFH during the pandemic and brings a qualitative lens to this emerging field of research. To date, little research has been conducted in a New Zealand context.
Six participants were recruited via snowball sampling. Participants were interviewed
individually using semi-structured interviews and were asked questions about their well-being
during Covid-19. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The picture that emerged
appeared to differ in some significant ways from overseas evidence. Generally, participants had
stable PWB while WFH in lockdown. Prior to Covid-19 employees expressed a desire to work
from home, however organisational mistrust presented barriers to this occurring. Following the
seven weeks of employees WFH, all of the participants' organisations changed their practices and
policies to reflect new flexible working options, which participants embraced. Organisational
support appeared to be a contributing factor to participants PWB but work-life balance decreased
for the majority of participants due to the blurring of home and life boundaries and having to
navigate new Covid-19 work protocols. All participants reported their trust in the New Zealand
government indicating social capital was high among this group and potentially a contributing
factor to the generally stable PWB.
ii
Communication platforms such as Zoom and Teams significantly helped most participants
feel connected to colleagues, friends and family, helping to maintain the social fabric, and in turn,
social capital. Participants that experienced disconnection with family also experienced reduced
well-being. These findings contribute to the research field of workplace well-being and may have
implications for individuals and organisations as employees continue to navigate Covid-19 and
hybrid work models.