The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the need to move educational processes to virtual environments and increase the use of digital tools for different teaching uses. This led to a change in the habits of using information and communication technologies (ICT), especially in higher education. This work analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the frequency of use of different ICT tools in a sample of 950 Latin American university professors while focusing on the area of knowledge of the participating professors. To this end, a validated questionnaire has been used, the responses of which have been statistically analyzed. As a result, it has been proven that participants give high ratings to ICT but show insufficient digital competences for its use. The use of ICT tools has increased in all areas after the pandemic but in a diverse way. Differences have been identified in the areas of knowledge regarding the use of ICT for different uses before the pandemic. In this sense, the results suggest that Humanities professors are the ones who least use ICT for didactic purposes. On the other hand, after the pandemic, the use of ICT for communication purposes has been homogenized among the different knowledge areas.

The COVID-19 epidemic has given rise to a new situation that requires the qualification and training of teachers to operate in educational crises. Amidst the pandemic, online training has emerged as the predominant approach for delivering teacher training. The COVID-19 pandemic has created potential opportunities and challenges for online training, which may have a long-lasting impact on online training procedures in the post-pandemic era. This study aims to determine the primary potential and constraints of online training as seen by instructors. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) identified online training opportunities and challenges by examining the to-be-applied behavioral intention variables that influence trainees. These variables include individual, system, social, and organizational factors. The study has applied the Phenomenological technique to address the research issues, using the Semi-structured interview tool to get a comprehensive knowledge of the online training phenomena amongst the pandemic. A total of seven participants were selected from a list of general education teachers at the Central Education Office of the Education Department in Bisha Governorate. These people were deliberately selected because of their high frequency of completing training sessions throughout the epidemic. A series of interviews was conducted with these participants. The findings indicated that the primary prospects included both equal opportunities and digital culture within the individual factors, enrollment in training programs and variation in training programs across organizational characteristics, the use of digital material and electronic archiving within the system variables, engaging in the exchange of personal experiences, providing constructive criticism, and fostering favorable communication within the realm of social factors. However, the primary obstacles included deficiencies in digital competencies, compatibility of trainees’ attributes, and dearth of desire as per individual factors, the temporal arrangement of training programs, as well as the lack of prior preparation and preparedness within the realm of organizational factors. Other challenges included the absence of trainer assessment, limited diversity of training exercises, and technological obstacles within the system factors, and ultimately the absence of engagement with the instructor, and lack of engagement with peers are within the social variable.

COVID-19 has led to abrupt changes in work norms and practices. Despite receding pandemic restrictions, the popularity of remote or hybrid work has not subsided. As employees around the world continue to call for more flexibility and autonomy in the way they work, human resource leaders must continuously consider and evaluate decisions based on ever-changing sentiment, balancing the interests of employees and employers alike. In this perspective article, we review the current state of work in the Southeast Asian region, focusing on Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand, and present preliminary results from a region-wide mental health assessment that was conducted in late 2022. We argue for the continuation of hybrid work in the region and elaborate on the mental health risks that come with remote working.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial economic and psychological impact on workers in Saudi Arabia. The objective of the study was to assess the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic on the financial and mental well-being of Saudi employees in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Purpose: The COVID-19 epidemic has resulted in significant economic and societal ramifications. Current study indicates that the pandemic has not only precipitated an economic crisis but has also given rise to several psychological and emotional crises. This article provides a conceptual examination of how the pandemic impacts the economic and mental health conditions of Saudi workers, based on contemporary Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) models. Method: The current study employed a qualitative methodology and utilized a sample survey strategy. The data was gathered from Saudi workers residing in major cities of Saudi Arabia. The samples were obtained from professionals such as managers, doctors, and engineers, as well as non-professionals like unskilled and low-skilled laborers, who are employed in various public and private sectors. A range of statistical tools, including Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, Pearson’s Correlation, Factor analysis, Reliability test, Chi-square test, and regression approach, were employed to analyze and interpret the results. Result: According to the data, the pandemic has caused a wide range of economic problems, including high unemployment and underemployment rates, income instability, and different degrees of pressure on workers to find work. Feelings of insecurity (about food and environmental safety), worry, dread, stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns have been generated by these challenges. The rate of mental health decline differs among demographics. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has universally affected all aspects of our lives worldwide. It resulted in an extended shutdown of educational institutions, factories, offices, and businesses. Without a question, it has profoundly transformed the work environment, professions, and lifestyles of billions of individuals worldwide. There is a high occurrence of poor psychological well-being among Saudi workers. However, it has been demonstrated that both economic health and mental health interventions can effectively alleviate the mental health burden in this population.

The COVID-19 pandemic had an adverse impact on the mental health of frontline workers including firefighters. To better understand this occurrence, this cross-sectional study evaluated the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among 105 operational team and elite team firefighters in Kota Bharu, Kelantan State, Malaysia before and after the pandemic. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), a validated self-reporting survey tool, was used to assess symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress among the survey respondents. Findings revealed that firefighters had an increased level of anxiety and depression during the post-pandemic period compared to the pre-pandemic period. However, there was a decrease in the stress levels (20%) reported by study participants. Respondents belonging to the operational team had a higher reported level of depression, anxiety, and stress than those from the elite team. This may be attributed the operational team being more exposed to the risk of COVID-19 infection on account of their routine and more voluminous workload. The findings of this study suggest that firefighters, in general, are at an increased risk of mental health problems as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Knowing this, it is important to consider these findings when addressing the prevention and management of mental health among firefighters. This includes providing additional support and devoting more resources to those who are most at risk for experiencing symptoms of mental health such as firefighters performing functions aligned with that of an operational team.

The global economic recession has caused pessimism in terms of prospects of sales recovering in the future. The present study is an attempt to investigate the cost stickiness behavior by focusing on specific characteristics of companies. The research was done through documentary analysis and access to quantitative data, with the use of statistical methods for analysis as panel data. The statistical population of the actual study included all companies listed on the India stock exchange from 2017 to 2021. They were selected after screening 128 listed companies. The regression method was used to examine the relationship between variables and to present a forecast model. The results of testing the first hypothesis showed that companies’ costs are sticky and according to the results of this hypothesis, an increase in costs when the level of activity increases is greater than the level of reduction in costs when the volumes of the activities are decreased. The results of the second hypothesis showed a remarkable relationship between the cost stickiness and specific characteristics of companies (size, number of employees, long-term assets, financial leverage, and accuracy of profits forecast). Based on the third hypothesis, there is a notable difference between cost stickiness at different levels of specific characteristics of companies. Therefore, the results show that environmental uncertainty such as COVID-19, increases cost stickiness.