Study of Social-Psychological Consequences of Covid-19 for Employees: The Moderating Role of Responsible Organizational Support (The Case of Employees at the South Pars Gas Complex)

Covid-19 contagion has posed serious challenges to all nations. Nowadays, many countries are affected by the second and even the third wave of the pandemic, causing enormous human losses. The contagion has exerted considerable pressure on all economic, social, political and cultural spheres of social life, so that it can be considered as a turning point of the twenty-first century. In addition to all the problems that could be called the effects of the contagion, the organizations are struggling with the consequences of Covid-19; many of them have already found themselves in an unpleasant situation that has even brought them to the brink of bankruptcy. This situation has presented the organizations with the constant challenge of fulfilling their social responsibilities in times of crisis and uncertainty. Therefore, this article aims, firstly, to investigate the psychological and social consequences of contagion for employees. Second, by examining variables related to the onset of the disease, this study seeks to answer the question of whether organizational support mitigates the negative impact of Covid-19 contagion.

To this end, we conducted a survey among employees of South Pars Gas Complex in southern Iran based on stratified random sampling, resulting in 500 completed questionnaires.

Our analysis indicated that employees generally rated organizational support as moderate, while they perceived the risk associated with contagion conditions as high. Results also confirmed that subjective severity and risk perception were significantly associated with work interruption, while the general health variable had a negative significant relationship with our dependent variable. The data also confirmed the moderating role of organizational support in reducing the impact of subjective severity on work interruption.

In general, workers suffer from insomnia, anxiety, and depression during the Covid-19 crisis, which could be considered alarming due to their short- and long-term consequences. On the other hand, workers’ subjective perception of contagion is high. This is especially understandable considering the particular working conditions such as long working hours and rotating work schedules in our studied company, which are not uncommon in other companies nowadays. Moreover, we conclude that the lower the organizational support, the greater the influence of subjective severity on work interruption, and vice versa. This means that employees are more committed to their organizations when they perceive their organizations as responsible. Therefore, we can view the Covid-19 pandemic as an opportunity for organizations to promote employee engagement by providing adequate support.