The effect of COVID-19 phobia on employee performance and job satisfaction: a cross-sectional study

Hatice Serap KOÇAK¹, Ecem ÇİÇEK GÜMÜŞ²*, Derya ÇEVİK TAŞDEMİR³

1. Gaziantep University, Faculty of Health Science, Departments of Public Health Nursing Şehitkamil/Gaziantep, Turkey
2. University of Bartın, Faculty of Health Science, Departments of Public Health Nursing, Merkez/Bartın
3. Gaziantep University, Oğuzeli Vocational School, Department of Management and Organization

*Corresponding Author: Ecem ÇİÇEK GÜMÜŞ; E-mail:egumus@bartin.edu.tr , ecem8986@hotmail.com

Abstract
Background
The mass fear of COVID-19, which is called “coronaphobia”, causes many negative effects such as increasing unemployment rates, decreased performance in working life and organisational problems in the business world. The study is conducted to examine how COVID-19 is reflected in job performance and job satisfaction in terms of the sustainability of occupational health and safety of workers especially white-collar workers, in enterprises due to the pandemic.
Methods
The study was conducted as a descriptive, cross-sectional type. Data were collected from the employees in the designated factories by creating an online form using the “COVID-19 Phobia Scale”, “Employee Performance Scale”, and “Job Satisfaction Scale”.
Results
The findings obtained in the study showed a significant positive relationship between employee performance and job satisfaction.It was determined that job satisfaction and employee performance had a significant but weak relationship with COVID-19 phobia.
Conclusions
The findings expand previous studies by filling the lack of knowledge on how job performance and job satisfaction have effected at workplace during a pandemic. The study data show that job performance and job satisfaction in workplace employees affect each other and that both are affected by unexpected or extraordinary situations such as pandemics.