Challenges in Work and Employment during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Dear colleagues,

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues for a second consecutive year, a number of prevention measures are in place to secure lives and health. Although the rollout of vaccines is still underway, societies still need restrictions to reduce contact between people (lockdowns, social distancing, limitations on gatherings, etc.), which are in conflict with the economy. Alongside various compensation and support schemes to aid business costs, both work organizations and employees have striven to change their operations to meet the challenges put forward by the pressure of simultaneous health and economic issues. For the present and future recovery actions, it is important to find out what type of initiatives have been made this far and how they are working. This Special Issue aims to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the changes in the domains of work and employment as a basis for further research and new practices, which will potentially be relevant also in the long run after the acute crisis.

Original research articles, communications, comprehensive reviews and any other types of submissions relating to the theme of the Special Issue, are welcomed. The topics of the researches may cover but are not limited to the impact of COVID-19 prevention measures on:

• Job security and employment status;
• Working hours at the workplace and working from home (teleworking);
• Quality of working life, including national- and workplace-level employment relations, workplace culture, leadership, management and supervision styles, trust and control, gender-based work practices, etc.;
• Reconciliation of work and family;
• Professional work practices traditionally characterized by close contacts with clients or students (social work, teaching and education, learning of vocational skills);
• Workplace development and workplace learning.

The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). For all submissions to this Special Issue before the deadline (15 March 2022), the APC will be waived after acceptance.

Prof. Dr. Satu Kalliola
Dr. Tuula Heiskanen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Challenges is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.