What Happens to Workers Who Work from Office Again During Covid-19 Pandemic?

Background: The Covid-19 pandemic has brought the government to make regulatory changes to suppress the spread of Covid-19, one of which is to Work From Home (WFH). Today, as Covid-19 cases began declining, offices slowly began returning to the Work From Office (WFO). Changes from WFH to WFO during the Covid-19 pandemic created pressure that made certain perceptions of stress and work stressors during this period.


Method: This study examined the stress dynamics at the Tax Public Service Office in Tangerang using a mixed method approach. Quantitative methods were used to describe work stress and stressors using the Indonesian version of the SV-NBJSQ (Short Version New Brief Job questionnaire). Qualitative methods with semi-structured in-depth interviews were used to obtain an overview of workers’ perceptions of work stress and stressors in WFO during the Covid-19 pandemic.


Results: From the results of the questionnaire which were confirmed with in-depth interviews, we found that the results of stress symptoms were similar, namely low vigor, fatigue, fear, and physical stress, with stressors in the form of negative work-life balance, Covid-19, and work overload.


Conclusion: In-depth interviews could explore the questionnaire answers about existing stress symptoms and the underlying stressors. This research can be a factor for consideration for companies to take steps to reduce work stress as they began transitioning towards WFO.