The New Labour Landscape in a Post COVID-19 Society: Comparing Service-Versus Product-Oriented Organisations

Abstract: The impact of COVID-19 had unprecedented effects on the international labour market. Businesses went bankrupt, employees were fired, and organisations and employees had to adapt to swiftly working remotely from the office. Extensive studies have been conducted concerning the transition from in-person to remote work, but less so on how the transition from remote work to in-person work in a post-COVID-19 society will be facilitated - and if the labour landscape will be the same as prior to the outbreak of the pandemic. This quantitative and qualitative research project explores 1) how employees in product and service-oriented organisations perceive the potential transition from remote to in-person work and 2) how such organisations adhere to that perception. Through a tailor-made questionnaire, quantitative data on employee preference was collected. The data derived from four semi-structured interviews with managers in both service and product-oriented organisations were analysed and discussed. The findings indicated that there is no significant difference between the service and product-oriented organisations in terms of the employee perceptions of transitioning from remote to in-person work. The questionnaire, on the other hand, showed that there is an employee preference for working in a hybrid-like setup. In relation to this, the semi-structured interviews showed that there is a divide between the organisations in terms of willingness and capability to adhere to such preferences. Lastly, organisations can use this study to understand the factors affecting employee perceptions of the transition from remote to in-person work while navigating through the change process towards the new labour landscape.