Psychological impacts of COVID-19 on Indian immigrants working in the retail industry of Auckland, New Zealand, and their job performance
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Other Title
Authors
Kaur, Prabhjot
Author ORCID Profiles (clickable)
Degree
Master of Applied Management
Grantor
Otago Polytechnic
Date
2022
Supervisors
Pace, Barnaby
Omisakin, Olufemi Muibi
Omisakin, Olufemi Muibi
Type
Masters Thesis
Ngā Upoko Tukutuku (Māori subject headings)
Keyword
Auckland (N.Z.)
New Zealand
retail sector
Indian immigrants
psychology
COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-
temporary visa holders
job performance
New Zealand
retail sector
Indian immigrants
psychology
COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-
temporary visa holders
job performance
ANZSRC Field of Research Code (2020)
Citation
Kaur, P. (2022). Psychological impacts of COVID-19 on Indian immigrants working in the retail industry of Auckland, New Zealand, and their job performance. (Unpublished document submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Management). Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand. https://doi.org/10.34074/thes.5760
Abstract
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1) What are the potential psychological impacts of COVID-19 on the lives of Indian immigrants working in the retail industry and their job performance?
2) What are the potential psychological impacts of COVID-19 on those Indian immigrants who previously worked in the retail industry but were made redundant and are now studying again to upskill to meet the new job market requirements?
3) What are the specific factors, and to what extent are these factors associated with potential psychological impacts during and after COVID-19 on Indian immigrants working in the retail industry and their job performance?
ABSTRACT
The Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had profound and historic ramifications on people worldwide. This research explores the psychological impacts of COVID-19 on Indian immigrants with temporary visas working in the retail industry, on their job performance, and on those who previously worked in the retail industry but are now studying again in order to upskill. Mixed-method research was adopted, which allows the researchers to explore the problems in depth. Descriptive statistical techniques and regression analysis were employed to provide quantitative data results. Thematic analysis was used to identify the themes from the data collected through interviews.
The research findings indicated that, according to the Kessler Psychological Distress (K 10) test, 84.61% of student visa participants experienced high to very high psychological distress as compared to 48.65% of work visa participants. Similarly, the World Health Organisation (WHO-5) test found that more student visa participants (80%) experienced low mental well-being due to COVID-19 as compared to work visa participants (48.57%). The research also found different factors which had adverse psychological impacts due to COVID-19 on work and student visa participants' physical and mental health. These factors included fear of contracting COVID-19 and the inability to visit family members due to stringent border restrictions for work visa participants. For student visa participants, these factors included job insecurity, fear of being infected by a housemate, changes to immigration regulations under COVID-19, and the inability to visit family due to strict border restrictions. Furthermore, the research found that 68% of student visa participants lost their retail jobs due to COVID-19's impacts. The findings also revealed that being able to access most job duties during and after COVID-19, a safe and healthy work environment, work stress, and fear of contracting COVID-19 factors were closely associated with the job performance of work visa participants. Therefore, the findings of this research demonstrate the need for implementing possible solutions to reduce the psychological distress of everyone, regardless of their visa status, which has emerged due to COVID-19, and this may also help improve the job performance of immigrants at work.
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.34074/thes.5760
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International