The COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased strain and mental health problems due to changing working conditions. Given the existential nature of the pandemic, it remains crucial to establish employee effectiveness, resilience, and agility and to particularly understand the long-term psychological impact the pandemic might have on workplaces. It is essential to recognize how workplaces cope with work-from-home challenges and hybrid working beyond the crises. Building a narrative in our understanding of the psychological, cognitive, and physical experiences and responses of workplaces is critical. It provides the opportunity to help craft the way forward for organizations and employees.

There is still disproportionate research on resilience and agility in workplaces, with most research arising from the global North. Therefore, we set out to explore research based on the employee experience and psychological adjustment from a global South perspective whilst remaining cognisant of the implications of the pandemic on workplaces globally.

Whilst the current pandemic has impacted the globe, most of the extant literature of employee work experiences during the pandemic is based on cases from the global North. These tend to be well-regulated economies and workplaces with sophisticated policy guidelines and labor legislation governing work during the pandemic. The debate in much of the global North has shifted towards ‘return to work’ as those countries achieve high vaccination status. This also leads to a slower rate when the economy repairs with more long-lasting negative effects on overall well-being. The global South, whilst not homogenous, has less regulated economies, higher levels of social inequality, and fewer labor legalization mechanisms governing the employment relationship, while vaccination levels remain low. This special issue is concerned explicitly with the experience of employees and organizations from the global South. Do existing models and theories of organizational psychology sufficiently explain the experience of workers in the majority world? What new can empirical and theoretical contributions be made from the global South? Research has largely been needs-driven; however, employee experience in the next phase of the COVID-19 remains of concern, especially as workplaces evolve into the next phase of return to work.

Keeping in mind the growing nature of research in this space, this special edition invites research on relevant topics on employee experiences such as psychological adjustment, employee agility, and resilience, and challenges leaders face in steering organizations into the next phase of return to work and a hybrid workforce. This will help advance our knowledge and understanding of the psychological impact and workplace factors that would assist organizations, employees, and psychologists consider how they craft and design work for efficiency and prosperity amidst and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Agility and resilience of employees and organizations.
• Leadership of organizations during the pandemic.
• Return to work and its psychological impact.
• Preparing employees and organizations for hybrid work.
• Psychological adjustment and experience of employees concerning new ways of working.
• Impact of COVID-19 on employee mental health and well-being.
• Workplace approaches to manage the psychological impact of COVID-19.
• The effects of work-home interaction amidst and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Type of manuscripts
Original Research, Systematic Review, Case Study, Qualitative Research, Quantitative research

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