East West University

EMBA (Summer – 2021)

Submitted To: Prof. Abdul Bayes

Submitted By: Samia Afrin
ID: 2021-2-91-008
Course: EMBA 504 (Managerial Economics)
Section: 01
Date: 10th September, 2021
 Impact of Corona on Social Relationships and Employment Status

Introduction

COVID-19 pandemic has led to a dramatic loss of human life worldwide. This pandemic has
severely affected the social relationships and employment status – globally as well as in
Bangladesh. The economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic is devastating.

Social relationship refers to the existing association between family members, friends, neighbors,
co-workers, and other associates. Due to COVID-19 pandemic social distancing & lockdown
imposed by the Government. In this essay I am going to discuss about some key aspects of social
relationships that are disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the overall impact of COVID-19
on employment status in Bangladesh.

Social networks

Social networks characterize the individuals and social connections that compose a system (such
as a workplace, community or society). Social relationships range from spouses and partners, to
coworkers, friends and acquaintances. They vary across many dimensions, including, for
example, frequency of contact and emotional closeness. Most of the relationship has transferred
to online due to this pandemic. During the height of COVID-19 restrictions, face-to-face
interactions were often reduced to core network members, such as partners, family members or,
potentially, live-in roommates; some ‘weak’ ties were lost, and interactions became more limited
to those closest. Such changes were not inevitable nor necessarily enduring, since social
networks are also adaptive and responsive to change, in that a disruption to usual ways of
interacting can be replaced by new ways of engaging (eg, Zoom, Google meet). Individuals with
a large number of newly established relationships (eg, university students) may have struggled to
transfer these relationships online, resulting in lost contacts and a heightened risk of social
isolation. Social connections give rise to emergent properties of social systems, where a
community-level phenomenon develops that cannot be attributed to any one member or portion
of the network. For example, local area-based networks emerged due to geographic restrictions
(eg, stay-at-home orders), resulting in increases in neighbourly support and local volunteering.
Social support
Social support, referring to the psychological and material resources provided through social
interaction, is a critical mechanism through which social relationships benefit health. In fact,
social support has been shown to be one of the most important resilience factors in the aftermath
of stressful events. In the context of COVID-19, the usual ways in which individuals interact and
obtain social support have been severely disrupted. One such disruption has been to opportunities
for spontaneous social interactions. For example, conversations with colleagues in a break room
offer an opportunity for socializing beyond one’s core social network, and these peripheral
conversations can provide a form of social support. A chance conversation may lead to advice
helpful to coping with situations or seeking formal help. Thus, the absence of these spontaneous
interactions may mean the reduction of indirect support-seeking opportunities. While direct
support-seeking behaviour is more effective at eliciting support, it also requires significantly
more effort and may be perceived as forceful and burdensome. The shift to homeworking and
closure of community venues reduced the number of opportunities for these spontaneous
interactions to occur, and has, second, focused them locally. Consequently, individuals whose
core networks are located elsewhere, or who live in communities where spontaneous interaction
is less likely, have less opportunity to benefit from spontaneous in-person supportive
interactions. Not shaking hands may symbolise a failure to extend friendship, or a failure to
reach agreement. The norms governing these symbols represent shared values and identity; and
mutual understanding of these symbols enables individuals to achieve orderly interactions,
establish supportive relationship accountability and connect socially. Physical distancing
measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 radically altered these norms of interaction,
particularly those used to convey trust, affinity, empathy and respect (eg, hugging, physical
comforting). As epidemic waves rose and fell, the work to negotiate these norms required intense
cognitive effort; previously taken-for- granted interactions were re-examined, factoring in
current restriction levels, own and (assumed) others’ vulnerability and tolerance of risk. This
created awkwardness, and uncertainty, for example, around how to bring closure to an in-person
interaction or convey warmth. The instability in scripted ways of interacting created particular
strain for individuals who already struggled to encode and decode interactions with others (eg,
those who are deaf or have autism spectrum disorder); difficulties often intensified by mask
wearing. Large social gatherings—for example, weddings, school assemblies, sporting events—
also present key opportunities for affirming and assimilating interactional norms, building
cohesion and shared identity and facilitating cooperation across social groups. Online
‘equivalents’ do not easily support ‘social-bonding’ activities such as singing and dancing, and
rarely enable chance/spontaneous one-on- one conversations with peripheral/ weaker network
ties (see the Social networks section) which can help strengthen bonds across a larger network.
The loss of large gatherings to celebrate rites of passage (eg, bar mitzvah, weddings) has
additional relational costs since these events are performed by and for communities to reinforce
belonging, and to assist in transitioning to new phases of life.29 The loss of interaction with
diverse others via community and large group gatherings also reduces intergroup contact, which
may then tend towards more prejudiced outgroup attitudes. While online interaction can go some
way to mimicking these interaction norms, there are key differences. A sense of anonymity, and
lack of in-person emotional cues, tends to support norms of polarization and aggression in
expressing differences of opinion online. And while online platforms have potential to provide
intergroup contact, the tendency of much social media to form homogeneous ‘echo chambers’
can serve to further reduce intergroup contact.

Facial expressions are extremely important for comprehending people’s emotions and intentions.
Specifically,

several studies have investigated facial features crucial to convey and correctly recognize
specific emotions. As a

result, it has been demonstrated that both the upper (particularly the eyes) and lower (particularly
the mouth) face are essential for conveying and decoding emotional facial expressions. Precisely,
the eyes and mouth represent crucial cues for detecting angry and happy expressions,
respectively.

As expected, their results showed that when only the upper part of the face is visible (i.e., the
eyes), participants perceive and recognize negative emotions (i.e., anger and fear) better than
positive (i.e., happiness) ones. Furthermore, some studies also demonstrated that Islamic
contextual cues bias perception toward more intense negative emotions showing that the
interaction between contextual cues and the covering of facial features influences emotion
recognition. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the nature of our
social interactions.
Intimacy relates to the feeling of emotional connection and closeness with other human beings.
Emotional connection, through romantic, friendship or familial relationships, fulfils a basic
human need and strongly benefits health, including reduced stress levels, improved mental
health, lowered blood pressure and reduced risk of heart disease. Intimacy can be fostered
through familiarity, feeling understood and feeling accepted by close others. Intimacy via
companionship and closeness is fundamental to mental well-being. Positively, the COVID-19
pandemic has offered opportunities for individuals to (re)connect and (re) strengthen close
relationships within their household via quality time together, following closure of many usual
external social activities. Research suggests that the first full UK lockdown period led to a net
gain in the quality of steady relationships at a population level, but amplified existing
inequalities in relationship quality.35 36 For some in single-person households, the absence of a
companion became more conspicuous, leading to feelings of loneliness and lower mental well-
being. Additional pandemic-related relational strain39 40 resulted, for some, in the initiation or
intensification of domestic abuse.41 42 Physical touch is another key aspect of intimacy, a
fundamental human need crucial in maintaining and developing intimacy within close
relationships. Restrictions on social interactions severely restricted the number and range of
people with whom physical affection was possible. The reduction in opportunity to give and
receive affectionate physical touch was not experienced equally. Many of those living alone
found themselves completely without physical contact for extended periods. The deprivation of
physical touch is evidenced to take a heavy emotional toll.43 Even in future, once physical
expressions of affection can resume, new levels of anxiety over germs may introduce hesitancy
into previously fluent blending of physical and verbal intimate social connections. The pandemic
also led to shifts in practices and norms around sexual relationship building and maintenance, as
individuals adapted and sought alternative ways of enacting sexual intimacy. This too is
important, given that intimate sexual activity has known benefits for health. Given that social
restrictions hinged on reducing household mixing, possibilities for partnered sexual activity were
primarily guided by living arrangements. While those in cohabiting relationships could
potentially continue as before, those who were single or in non-cohabiting relationships
generally had restricted opportunities to maintain their sexual relationships. Pornography
consumption and digital partners were reported to increase since lockdown. However, online
interactions are qualitatively different from in-person interactions and do not provide the same
opportunities for physical intimacy.

The impact of the pandemic on employment

As the impact of the shutdown was like a strike in a flash, there was no opportunity for the
labour market to adjust, and the impact was entirely quantitative, i.e., loss of jobs and increase in
unemployment, even if that was temporary. During this period, those most severely affected
included the casual daily wage-based workers in urban and semi- urban areas, those who were
self-employed in their own petty activities, as well as those who were employed with precarious
contracts in various sectors.

The impact of the pandemic on employment on Labor Market

The adverse effects of the economic crisis are being transmitted to the labour market as well as
to knowledge workers. On the domestic side, the shutdown of public life resulted in complete
stoppage of economic activities during the period which in turn led to loss of jobs and
livelihoods for many – especially those working as day and casual labourers, and those in petty
self-employment. The sectors that were at high risk included transport, manufacturing,
construction and services of various types. With the loss of jobs and incomes and with lingering
health crisis, both consumption and investment were adversely affected.

On the external side, the sharp global recession resulted in a steep decline in demand which
included the major export item of Bangladesh – ready-made garments (RMG). As orders were
being cancelled and new orders dried up, the immediate impact was a closure of many factories
and less than capacity operation in many others. The second route through which the jobs
situation was affected was overseas employment. As countries dependent on expatriate labour
went into recession and demand for workers fell, a large number of workers from Bangladesh
lost their jobs and started returning.

Like many other countries, Bangladesh also adopted the policy of shutting down public life and
economic activities which started from 26 March, 2020 and continued till the end of May. Even
though economic activities were allowed in a limited way in the second half of May, and were
completely freed from 1 June, in view of the continuation of the rapid spread of the virus,
restrictions re-imposed from around the middle of June. The experience of Bangladesh with the
attempts to shut down public life and opening up even before the spread of the virus could be
contained brought out the sharp dilemma between saving lives from the spread of the disease and
protecting livelihoods of people endangered by the shutdown. It was clear that in the absence of
measures to provide income support to the people whose livelihoods were affected by the
shutdown, such a measure could not be continued for too long.

Even after the general shutdown was lifted and economic activities were allowed to start, the
economy has not yet come back to its normal path. While the livelihoods of millions of people
were in jeopardy during the period of shutdown, the labour market remains in disarray as the
economy is struggling to regain its pre-pandemic level. In addition to the loss of jobs in the
domestic labour market, tens of thousands of people working abroad are returning as a result of
retrenchment in the countries they were working in. Moreover, since global recovery is not
anticipated before 2021, there seems to be little possibility of new overseas employment
opportunities in 2020.

In the context of the situation described above, it is necessary to look at what is happening in the
labour market of the country, how it is adjusting to the new reality and what needs to be done to
protect the livelihoods of those dependent on labour. In the broader context of economic
recovery, it is important to not only adopt policies aimed at supporting the revival of economic
activities but also to ensure that the labour market does not lag behind and recovery does not
become jobless.

The performance of the economy of Bangladesh with regard to employment was disappointing
even before the pandemic hit. According to data provided by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
(BBS), the actual GDP growth in 2019-20 is 5.24 per cent.

Impact of the COVID Pandemic on Knowledge Workers

Covid-19 has rendered a large proportion of the workforce unable to commute to work due to
fast spread of this virus. This has resulted in both employers and employees seeking alternative
work arrangements. Due to the pandemic, knowledge workers experienced work from home
(WFH). In WFH the benefits of our ability to easily connect, can also erase the line between
what is work time and what is not. This adds a whole new dimension and challenges, and
sometimes we feel like we are ‘living at work’ rather than ‘working from home’.

Earlier work and home were separated. Operational dimension of life is way different now than
earlier. When working from an office we used to have a fixed schedule. The alarm goes off at
same time every day, we grab our morning coffee at 7:05 am, and have to reach office desk by
9:00 am. When it comes to working from home, it is a little different. Now we have the
flexibility to wake up and finish our office work from home at any time we prefer. We don’t
have any fixed office hours like before.

Unlike before, we can spend more time with our family now. We have flexibility to decide what
to do when. That means we can answer the office emails or spend time with loved ones at any
time we want. We have greater mobility now, we do not have to work all day in office cubicle.
When working at office we did not have a choice in the work environment or office setting. One
may have a noisy coworker, or sit under the air conditioner all day. Working from home enables
everyone to set up an optimal home office or workstation which is more comfortable.

WFH was on the rise even before the pandemic, and now knowledge workers seem more
comfortable with it than ever before. I have been working from home from the very beginning of
the pandemic and from my perspective I can say that, this pandemic has led us to work in more
comfortable zone than before. I can attend Zoom meetings or do office works in my casual home
outfit. I do not have to sit long time in traffic jam every day, and saving my transport cost. I can
have a coffee or tea break anytime from my own kitchen. I am spending more time with family
than before.

Days before the pandemic, we were sitting in meetings with coworkers, laughing at lunch break
and may be even gearing up for a big presentation in front of the boss. Now most of us are
working from home in self-isolation. WFH has turned us into digital nomads. There are no
personal-professional boundaries left. Working from home is an appealing career move now. It
eliminates most of the traditional aspects of going to work, like commuting and dressing in a
business attire. WFH has increased our productivity to some level, but depending on someone’s
preferred work style and culture priorities, it could either be the best thing or the worst.
The pursuit of a balance between work and the rest of our daily lives is a recent concern.
Personal time became fragmented for some homeworkers. When you work outside of the home
we come home to relax. But now we have nowhere to go. This is increasing stress among
homeworkers which results in inefficiency. Many of us having disproportional work-life balance
during WFH.

WFH can come with other drawbacks including- increased isolation, workplace disconnect, less
face time, and lack of trust and empathy in workplace. The father of Modern Management, Peter
F Drucker said that “Trust is scarce.” That means, existence of trust is rare between coworkers
and between employees and employers. With isolation and workplace disconnect comes less face
time. Working remotely we do not have the same opportunities to speak face-to-face with our
colleagues and boss. Managers who cannot “see” direct reports of subordinates sometimes
struggle to trust that they are indeed working. It is the science of communication that we do only
7% of communication through words. We communicate the rest 93% through body language.
Human brain always look for hint in the face, eyes, tone, gesture, and posture. Means “we hear
with our eyes”. When we witness a mismatch between words and body language, we develop
lack of trust. This is how human brain is evolved over the years. Managers cannot see their
subordinates in person anytime and body language is not visible in telecommuting. Even I am
facing the same problem during working from home. Sometime this lack of trust of managers’
results in doing the same task twice which is exhausting and frustrating.

The downsides of this prolonged WFH cannot be ignored. In the article Vasundhara Sawhney
mentioned- according to one survey released in 2020, employees working apart from colleagues
were most concerned about diminished collaboration and communication, increased loneliness,
and being unable to unplug. Studies show that what remote workers gain in efficiency and
productivity, they lose in harder-to-measure benefits such as creativity, innovation, teamwork,
trust, and empathy. When doubts creep in, managers can start to develop an unreasonable
expectation that their subordinates will be available at all times, disrupting their work-home
balance and causing more job stress.

As a homeworker in this pandemic, I think to overcome these cons of WFH, we need to

communicate more with coworkers via video when possible to encourage differences of opinion,
and spend more time on small talk to build trust. No one knows what the new normal will be for
knowledge workers. But as individuals, teams, and organizations, we all need to find ways to
grasp what is good about WFH while creating better work-life boundaries and staying connected
and engaged.

Conclusions: The partial lockdown in Bangladesh due to the COVID-19 pandemic increased
community transmission and worsened the healthcare crisis, economic burden, and loss of GDP
despite the resuming of industrial operations. In society, it has created psychosocial and socio-
economic insecurity among people due to the loss of lives and livelihoods. The government
should take proper inclusive steps for risk assessment, communications, and financial stimulus
toward the public to alleviate their fear and anxiety, and to take proper action to boost mental
health and well-being.

Without ensuring fundamental needs would be met, the lockdown due to COVID-19 has
imposed mental stress on the public. The weak governance in the healthcare systems and limited
healthcare facilities exacerbated the general public's fear and anxiety. The centralized COVID-19
testing facility and limitations of dedicated hospital units for COVID-19 patients hampered other
critical patients from receiving healthcare services. As a country vulnerable to climate change,
there might be some additional risk factors of occurring natural disasters, such as a tropical
cyclone, which may add further pressure on the country. The closure of all educational
institutions may increase the number of mentally depressed young people. As the business
centres (except for groceries, pharmacies, and other daily necessities) are closed, it has put
further stress on the country's economy. An infectious outbreak of dengue might be on the way
that may have a cumulative/synergistic negative impact with COVID-19 on public health in
Bangladesh. However, numerous factors that can be considered in the context of the current
COVID-19 outbreak in Bangladesh are as follows: risk of community transmission, healthcare
capacity, governance coordination, relief for the low-income population, biomedical waste
management, and preparation for possible natural disasters. The recommendations collected in
the perception study can be summarized as a need to increase COVID-testing rates and increase
medical facilities. The decentralization of the COVID-19 medical facilities is particularly
important due to the forced migration of more than 11 million people from Dhaka city to 64
districts of Bangladesh after the announcement of partial lockdown. In addition, proper risk
assessment and dependable risk communication, a multi-sectoral management taskforce
development, care of biomedical waste, ensuring basic support to vulnerable people, and good
governance was suggested to reduce the psychosocial and socio-economic impact of the COVID-
19 outbreak in Bangladesh. Finally, this assessment process could help the government and
policymakers to judge the public perceptions to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic in densely
populated lower-middle-income countries like Bangladesh.

Millions of enterprises face an existential threat. Nearly half of the world’s 3.3 billion global
workforce are at risk of losing their livelihoods. Informal economy workers are particularly
vulnerable because the majority lack social protection and access to quality health care and have
lost access to productive assets. Without the means to earn an income during lockdowns, many
are unable to feed themselves and their families. For most, no income means no food, or, at best,
less food and less nutritious food. 

The pandemic has been affecting the entire food system and has laid bare its fragility. Border
closures, trade restrictions and confinement measures have been preventing farmers from
accessing markets, including for buying inputs and selling their produce, and agricultural
workers from harvesting crops, thus disrupting domestic and international food supply chains
and reducing access to healthy, safe and diverse diets. The pandemic has decimated jobs and
placed millions of livelihoods at risk. As breadwinners lose jobs, fall ill and die, the food security
and nutrition of millions of women and men are under threat, with those in low-income
countries, particularly the most marginalized populations, which include small-scale farmers and
indigenous peoples, being hardest hit.

Millions of agricultural workers – waged and self-employed – while feeding the world, regularly
face high levels of working poverty, malnutrition and poor health, and suffer from a lack of
safety and labour protection as well as other types of abuse. With low and irregular incomes and
a lack of social support, many of them are spurred to continue working, often in unsafe
conditions, thus exposing themselves and their families to additional risks. Further, when
experiencing income losses, they may resort to negative coping strategies, such as distress sale of
assets, predatory loans or child labour. Migrant agricultural workers are particularly vulnerable,
because they face risks in their transport, working and living conditions and struggle to access
support measures put in place by governments. Guaranteeing the safety and health of all agri-
food workers – from primary producers to those involved in food processing, transport and retail,
including street food vendors – as well as better incomes and protection, will be critical to saving
lives and protecting public health, people’s livelihoods and food security.

In the COVID-19 crisis food security, public health, and employment and labour issues, in
particular workers’ health and safety, converge. Adhering to workplace safety and health
practices and ensuring access to decent work and the protection of labour rights in all industries
will be crucial in addressing the human dimension of the crisis. Immediate and purposeful action
to save lives and livelihoods should include extending social protection towards universal health
coverage and income support for those most affected. These include workers in the informal
economy and in poorly protected and low-paid jobs, including youth, older workers, and
migrants. Particular attention must be paid to the situation of women, who are over-represented
in low-paid jobs and care roles. Different forms of support are key, including cash transfers,
child allowances and healthy school meals, shelter and food relief initiatives, support for
employment retention and recovery, and financial relief for businesses, including micro, small
and medium-sized enterprises. In designing and implementing such measures it is essential that
governments work closely with employers and workers.

Countries dealing with existing humanitarian crises or emergencies are particularly exposed to
the effects of COVID-19. Responding swiftly to the pandemic, while ensuring that humanitarian
and recovery assistance reaches those most in need, is critical.

Now is the time for global solidarity and support, especially with the most vulnerable in our
societies, particularly in the emerging and developing world. Only together can we overcome the
intertwined health and social and economic impacts of the pandemic and prevent its escalation
into a protracted humanitarian and food security catastrophe, with the potential loss of already
achieved development gains.

We must recognize this opportunity to build back better, as noted in the Policy Brief issued by
the United Nations Secretary-General. We are committed to pooling our expertise and
experience to support countries in their crisis response measures and efforts to achieve the
Sustainable Development Goals. We need to develop long-term sustainable strategies to address
the challenges facing the health and agri-food sectors. Priority should be given to addressing
underlying food security and malnutrition challenges, tackling rural poverty, in particular
through more and better jobs in the rural economy, extending social protection to all, facilitating
safe migration pathways and promoting the formalization of the informal economy.

We must rethink the future of our environment and tackle climate change and environmental
degradation with ambition and urgency. Only then can we protect the health, livelihoods, food
security and nutrition of all people, and ensure that our ‘new normal’ is a better one.

bstract

The Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) has created tremendous negative impacts on the livelihood
of the marginal population in Bangladesh. Many people working in the informal sector have lost
their job and income due to the ongoing pandemic. Unemployment and poverty among the
people in both urban and rural areas throughout the country have increased. The success in
economic growth in the last few decades could not save poor people to become extreme poor
because economic prosperity was not inclusive in Bangladesh. This study tries to identify some
of the impacts that COVID-19 has imposed on the lives of marginal population. Then it indicates
some of the serious limitations of the existing economic policies. This article suggests that only
growth-oriented policy measures are not sufficient to reconstruct the economy in the post-
COVID era. Rather Bangladesh needs to adopt employment-oriented economic policies that are
capable to create more jobs and reduce poverty and inequality.

Conclusion

In summary, in the post-COVID situation, there is an opportunity to rebuild the economy in a

new way. It is very important at this time to have an idea and preparation for how to rebuild the
economy. The COVID situation demands a departure from our conventional notions. In the post-
COVID situation, a new action plan is also needed for the drivers of Bangladesh’s economy in
the new reality. At the same time, it is time to make reforms and action plans that could not be
made in the pre-COVID situation, but which are urgently needed for inclusive development.
History says that crisis creates an opportunity to think new. One of the positive aspects of this
ongoing crisis is that it gives an opportunity to rethink the development philosophy, economic
philosophy and action plan of the days ahead. The focus of that new thinking should be to move
away from growth-centric narrow thinking and move towards a multi-dimensional development
plan. If this discussion with partners, policymakers and those involved in development planning
and implementation can begin now, and if the right policies and action plans can be set,
undoubtfully the country will be in a much better position in economic and social construction in
the post-COVID situation.