Covid impacted Indian professionals the most, shows study

The continued uncertainty due to the pandemic and more than a year of lockdown, restrictions and rising stress levels have left professionals worldwide in emotional turmoil, feeling like their lives and careers are out of control, while India, along with Brazil and the UAE, reported the highest number of people negatively impacted, according to a new study by Oracle and Workplace Intelligence, an HR research and advisory firm.
The study of more than 14,600 employees, managers, HR leaders, and C-level executives across 13 countries – including 1,100 professionals from India - found that about 91% of the respondents from India said that they are highly impacted in life, much higher than the global average of 80%.

Nearly 44% of the respondents in India stated that they are struggling financially, as compared to the global average of 29%, while 36% are suffering from declining mental health (28% globally), 32% are lacking career motivation (25% globally) and (31%) are feeling disconnected from their own lives (23% globally).

However, professionals in India are more receptive to technology with 92% of Indians saying AI and robots can support their career development better than humans.

“People in India seem to be struggling the most. But there is also a good thing, which is that they're also open and receptive to technology to support,” Deepa Param Singhal, vice president, HCM, Oracle Asia Pacific, told ET in an exclusive interaction.

“People in India are reflecting on their lives more than before with 96% of the people who reflect on their life and 92% of Indians believe that technology and robots can support their career development,” she added.

Globally more than half (52%) of people struggled with mental health at work more in 2021 than in 2020, while (68%) of respondents from India struggled with mental health at work more in 2021 than in 2020, showed the survey.

The number of people worldwide who feel little to no control over their personal and professional lives doubled since the start of the pandemic. Globally, people noted they have lost control over their futures (43%); personal lives (46%); careers (41%); and relationships (39%), whereas in India (67%) of people noted that they have lost control over their personal lives, careers (60%) and relationships (55%).

The study also showed that (87%) of respondents from India feel stuck in their personal lives over the past year, (40%) are feeling anxiety about their future, (30%) are trapped in the same routine and (28%) are more loneliness than ever before.

However, despite struggles over the last year, people around the world are eager to make changes in their professional lives.

Data showed that globally 93% of people used the past year to reflect on their lives and 88% said the meaning of success has changed for them since the pandemic, with work-life balance (42%); mental health (37%); and workplace flexibility (33%) now top priorities.

Majority of Indians (96%) said the meaning of “success” has changed for them since the pandemic and explained that success is now more aligned, more than half (52%) are achieving work-life balance, (44%) are prioritising mental health, (49%) are having flexibility over when and where they work and (44%) say they are having a meaningful job contributes more to their success than a steady paycheck.

“For the first time, people in India scored higher on items like focusing on their health and fitness (66%), but about 42% travelled more and did all these things. So, when people are looking at opportunities, they're also looking at empowerment, growth, and acquiring newer skills, which I think is an opportunity for organizations,” said Singhal.

“Mental health is the central focus and mental wellbeing has a very direct impact on workplace productivity,” said Singhal. “Organisations must become more empathetic and humane today, and that is how we can bridge this gap between offline and online. There is a huge role that technology and new-age technology can play in addressing this,” she added.

For instance, AI can do a lot of predictive diagnostics. Earlier, HR was sort of in the dark about the challenges employees were facing, but with these new-age AI-based technologies, HR can get insights into the feelings of the workforce, said Singhal. “Bots and digital assistance take the place of buddies at work. So, for any of these mental health issues, digital assistants and bots can be leveraged very well,” she added.

The study shows that in India, 97% of people want technology to help them define their future, (49%) by identifying the skills they need to develop, (52%) are recommending ways to learn new skills and (49%) are providing next steps to progress towards career goals. Nearly 75% of people (globally) and (91%) in India would make life changes based on robot recommendations.

About 82% believe robots can support their careers better than a human by giving unbiased recommendations (37%); quickly answering questions about their career (33%); or finding new jobs that fit their current skills (32%). In this parameter, (92%) of Indian respondents believe that robots can support their career development better than humans, (44%) believe that robots are better at giving unbiased recommendations, (46%) are delivering resources tailored to current skills or goals, (50%) are quickly answering questions about their career and (44%) are finding new jobs that fit their current skills.

“Artificial intelligence, when used properly, can become a very potent and productive tool that enhances engagement and effectiveness,” said Singhal. “If you overlay that with people in India being more comfortable with seeking help and guidance from bots, you can leverage it very well,” she added.

“What's happening is these bots are becoming very intelligent and are becoming very unbiased. Therefore, we are now actually able to identify any sort of biases in the HR interaction process,” said Singhal. According to her, “today you can leverage AI to read job descriptions and suggest language. You know where you can remove any biases, and that's what we get to do for your DNI initiatives and gender initiatives. And there is natural human talent, of course, and AI can sit on top of that to augment it.”

The study also shows that people believe humans still have a critical role to play in career development. Globally, respondents believe humans are better at providing support by offering advice based on personal experience (46%); identifying strengths and weaknesses (44%); and looking beyond a resume to recommend roles that fit personalities (41%). Nearly (50%) of respondents from India fell that human are better at offering advice based on personal experience, (54%) are identifying strengths and weaknesses, (50%) are looking beyond a resume to recommend roles that fit their personality and (48%) are providing personal recommendations for new jobs or roles. Globally, 87% and (94%) in India believe their company should be doing more to listen to their needs. Nearly 55% (globally) and (81%) in India are more likely to stay with a company that uses advanced technologies like AI to support career growth.

“From a human resources aspect, it starts with sort of listening to employees. Employee listening becomes very critical and leveraging technology that can help to pulse check almost daily that CHROs can invest in that becomes very important,” said Singhal. “We are seeing a lot of advancements in what the CHROs are doing. Presently, new age performance management tools can leverage AI and can track employee productivity on a real-time basis instead of having to wait for annual appraisals,” she added.