The COVID-19 pandemic has led to major alterations in the workplace and work, with notable implications for the well-being of the U.S. workforce. Its effects underscore what NIOSH has recognized for a long time: holistic workplace and work policies, programs, and practices are vital to ensuring the overall welfare of the workforce, as well as the long-term health and continuity of organizations and businesses. Yet even with this knowledge, strategies supported by decades of evidence-based research and advocated for by NIOSH programs, such as Healthy Work Design and Well-Being and Total Worker Health, have not been widely instituted. Implementation of these strategies will help employers prepare their workplaces for a future that will not only include emergency and disaster preparedness and response but also critical and interwoven foci such as changes in workforce demographics, expansion of nonstandard work arrangements, blurring of the work and nonwork interface, and complex human-technology interactions. Over the last several years, the hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have awakened many people outside the occupational and environmental health and safety profession to the fact that work and the workplace profoundly impact the workforce and have ramifications for the general population. It is vital for the OEHS profession to leverage this momentum with calls to action and contributions from experts and leaders in the field, especially at a time when return-to-office implementation has been underway in the U.S., to finally apply the tangible and widespread changes needed to address age-old but largely preventable issues that present risks to workers. This commentary highlights four long-standing, overlapping, and consequential workforce safety, health, and well-being risk factors: economic insecurity, stress, sleep deprivation, and fatigue. These risks were pervasive before the COVID-19 pandemic, became especially pronounced during the worldwide public health emergency, and are predicted to persist. Evidence-based healthy work design suggestions drawn from NIOSH can help employers better safeguard members of their workforces as they work and live in the new “coronanormal” present. Applying the practices suggested here may alleviate the issues associated with these four risk factors by providing employers with policies, programs, and practices necessary to address and raise awareness of what are often considered to be individual-level factors or responsibilities but which are, in reality, predominantly employer- or organizational-level concerns. ECONOMIC INSECURITY Economic security is multifaceted. Among other elements, it consists of income security, referring to adequate income and benefits; labor market security, referring to opportunities for income-earning activities; employment security through protection of income-earning work; and job security, which allows workers some control over job content and opportunities to build their careers. Economic security also encompasses work security—work conditions that are safe and promote well-being. Unsurprisingly, for most workers and their families, economic security is predominantly, if not exclusively, achieved through maintaining stable work. Economic security drives workers’ emotional and physical health, work engagement, and productivity—all of which benefit workers’ families, employers, communities, and the U.S. economy. Conversely, unemployment, underemployment, and insecure employment lead to economic insecurity, which adversely affects well-being. Although the clinical health consequences brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have been at the forefront of most individuals’ concerns and collective efforts, the economic repercussions have been almost as significant. Protective measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as physical or social distancing, stay-at-home orders, and temporary business closures, may have lessened rates of disease exposure and transmission, according to the World Health Organization. However, these same measures have also contributed to the COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating economic effects. The closing of businesses following the declaration of the worldwide public health emergency reduced the supply of goods and services, and the resulting job loss significantly affected employers, workers, and their families. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Population Survey found that the unemployment rate reached 13 percent in the second quarter of 2020, the highest quarterly average unemployment rate in the survey’s history. Despite government policies and programs implemented to alleviate economic instability and an unemployment rate far lower than its 2020 peak, job uncertainty, labor shortages, and economic insecurity due to the COVID-19 pandemic persist. Possible explanations include continuing SARS-CoV-2 transmission, the resignation of millions of workers, lack of available jobs in some sectors, outdated recruiting practices, childcare or other family needs, and COVID-19 vaccine employer mandates. In many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic not only created economic insecurity among U.S. workers but identified and exposed the precariousness that existed well before for many. Employers may consider fostering healthy supervisory practices to promote long-term economic security measures that support workers and managers at all times, especially during times of economic uncertainty. Employers can emphasize workers’ career growth and development and prioritize continual learning, (re)training, and reskilling opportunities that focus not only on workers’ economic security needs but employers’ needs as well, and they may recommend training, tools, and other resources at the levels of both the individual and the organization as a whole. Additional strategies for reducing workers’ economic insecurity include offering affordable, accessible, and comprehensive healthcare practices and extending financial or other assistance for health issues, including appropriate leave policies and substance use disorder programs. Employers can also arrange for time-saving transportation and commuting assistance, provide adequate wages and benefits, and prevent wage theft—that is, failure to pay wages, overtime, annual leave, or other entitlements. Organizations that do not already do so can pledge to provide their workers with job security and stability, reduce precariousness, establish minimum guaranteed hours, provide retirement planning and benefits, and ensure equitable pay, performance appraisals, and promotion potential. Finally, employers should guarantee equal and inclusive employment opportunities. In this changing world, where work is seen as a central construct of well-being, the strategies provided here directly and indirectly enable workers to perform effectively and efficiently. They not only ensure workers’ economic security and well-being but also that of employers and society at large. STRESS Stress is emotional or physical tension arising from an event or thought that can lead to emotional or mental disturbances and severe or long-term physical conditions, especially if left unmanaged. In 2019, the American Psychological Association (APA) Stress in America Survey found that six in 10 U.S. adults identified work and money as their most significant sources of stress. Changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic contributed even more to work stress. A survey discussed in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report in August 2020 found that nearly 41 percent of respondents had experienced at least one adverse mental or behavioral health condition related to stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. For some, added work-related stress resulted from job loss, uncertainty, and economic insecurity. For others, such as those who continued reporting to their workplaces in person, work-related stress was often precipitated by anxiety over potential SARS-CoV-2 exposure, transmission, and effects. Those engaged in remote work may have experienced increased stress due to having to adapt to new technologies, juggle work and family commitments, and work longer hours, potentially coupled with an overuse of technology. Indeed, for many, the experience of working from home limited their ability to psychologically detach from work or mentally “switch off.” Even presently, APA’s 2023 Work in America Survey found that 77 percent of respondents had experienced work-related stress in the past month, suggesting that U.S. workers have not yet recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic and are still experiencing elevated levels of stress and symptoms of poor mental health. To limit work-related stress, employers may consider supervisory practices and training that support workers and managers during times of heightened stress. Employers may implement healthy work strategies such as prioritizing flexible options to meet workers’ needs, providing paid time off, and improving workers’ autonomy, independence, and control over how they do their jobs. Developing and promoting mechanisms to support meaningful, engaging, and satisfying work, providing adequate resources and staffing for job tasks, engaging in conflict reduction and resolution, and facilitating coworker and managerial social support are other strategies to reduce work stress. Employers should strive to eliminate bullying, harassment, coercion, threats, retaliation, discrimination, and violence and endeavor to instill organizational justice with fair and transparent practices. Organizations may offer on-site caregiving or off-site assistance to alleviate the stress of childcare. Finally, employers can recommend stress reduction training, tools, and other resources at the organizational and individual levels. Implementation of these suggestions could reduce worker stress and work-life imbalance; improve worker control, engagement, and turnover; and have a beneficial impact on the overall well-being of workers and their families.

Disclaimer: The findings and conclusions in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SARA L. TAMERS, PhD, MPH, was a health research scientist at NIOSH when contributing to this work. She served as coordinator of the Research Program Development and Collaboration of the Total Worker Health Program, assistant coordinator of the Healthy Work Design and Well-Being Program, and coordinator of the Future of Work Initiative.

TAPAS K. RAY, PhD, is a senior NIOSH economist and assistant coordinator for the NIOSH Healthy Work Design and Well-being program. Additionally, he teaches managerial and health economics at Miami University, Oxford, and is an outcome research consultant at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

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