Adapting to change: How has COVID-19 affected people's work and personal goals?

PLoS One. 2022 Feb 3;17(2):e0262195. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262195. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the global economy and affected millions of people's work and personal lives across the world. The purpose of the present study was to better understand how individuals' work and personal goals have been affected by the pandemic and how they have adapted to these changes. We conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews (n = 48) and surveyed participants (n = 200) weekly for 5 weeks. Both methods revealed similar themes regarding the adaptation and pursuit of goals (social support, handling unpredictable situations, logistics, solving problems creatively, goal postponement, and no changes). Survey responses also showed that most individuals experienced their goals as more difficult (79%; 13% easier; 9% no change) and found that many had had to adapt or postpone their work and personal goals, often due to logistical difficulties. Businesses and governments should do more to help individuals adapt their goals to the new circumstances.

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Physiological
  • Adaptation, Psychological
  • Adult
  • COVID-19 / epidemiology*
  • COVID-19 / prevention & control
  • COVID-19 / psychology*
  • COVID-19 / virology
  • Female
  • Goals*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Pandemics / prevention & control*
  • Quarantine / psychology
  • SARS-CoV-2*
  • Social Support
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Work Performance / organization & administration*
  • Young Adult

Grants and funding

L.M.V. Jubilee Scholarship, University of Southampton, https://www.southampton.ac.uk/. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The funder provided support in the form of salaries for L. M. V., but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.