Table 2.

Data supporting interpretations of the impact of work from home on employees during COVID-19

Dimensions and themes	Representative quotations from the transcripts
1. Role improvisation
Changes in working hours	Work is the same but timing has increased…now I login at 9 am and logout at 10 pm …about 3 h more than usual (Service sector, Participant 6) Work hours have definitely increased…I am connected through technology all the time (Service sector, Participant 3)
	Typically my job is from 10 am-7 pm focusing on selling…now in a typical day my sales divisional head gives instructions to us…then I need to delegate work to my team of 45 members…I also have to call customers and dealers to maintain relationships….that’s all not much work (Manufacturing sector, Participant 8)
	Usually, I worked for about 75 h/week but now it’s about 25 h/week (Manufacturing sector, Participant 1)
Procedural and status changes	Reaching out to new clients and client-end delivery has slowed down but other things are going on as usual. (Service sector, Participant 17)
	We cannot call default customers according to government instructions….so… nowadays online training has increased…how to reduce TAT [turnaround time], about different financial products, policy learning, etc. (Service sector, Participant 11)
	As a usual business practice, we used to gift our clients complimentary passes to concerts. Now, we fix an appointment with the client and surprise them with a video call with their favourite artist who would sing songs as requested by the client. Clients are very happy. (Service sector, Participant 9)
	I meet 70 HR managers daily over Zoom who in turn check on 8000 employees …we are conducting online training…this was never done before…(Manufacturing sector, Participant 15)
	I am in the supply chain so no logistics work now….we spend time mostly in brainstorming and problem solving as there is global pressure to plan the inventory in the warehouse. (Manufacturing sector, Participant 24)
	I'm working on policy revision due to this COVID-19 crisis …related to compensation and talent management (Manufacturing sector, Participant 19)
2. Stress
Work-related stress	This is a good time for fraudulent transactions, hacking and malicious intentions….so I need to be alert and extra cautious…this has increased my stress….Plus, the process for a simple task has increased. Usually, you physically go to a colleague and talk. Now, they either don’t take the call or there is a poor net connection…so apart from work, there is an added stress of coordination. (Service sector, Participant 14)
	Stress is definitely high…there’s a lot of ambiguity….engagement in the office is easy but now due to the Covid situation, I can’t push for deliverables (Service sector, Participant 13)
Future-related stress	Stress is due to uncertainty—will temporary employees come back? What will the situation be when the market opens up? (Manufacturing sector, Participant 20)
	“….we don’t know what the market psyche would be after lockdown?” (Manufacturing sector, Participant 23)
	“I am stressed about the future when the lockdown is over and the market opens up…. I have heard about 25% pay cuts and job loss.” (Manufacturing sector, Participant 2)
	All of us are working on “if–then” scenarios…when lockdown opens how will the market react? (Manufacturing sector, Participant 24)
Non-work stressors	There is tension around COVID…I’m concerned about my parents as they are far away… they are worried about me as I am alone and in the COVID hotspot. (Manufacturing sector, Participant 23)
	Work-related stress I can handle but I am worried about my team’s health and feel that I have a social responsibility. (Manufacturing sector, Participant 18)
	…no maids….I have to help with the household work…my kid thinks I’m on a holiday so I should play with him all the time! (Service sector, Participant 9)
Reduced productivity	…down by almost 50%…but we understand…I have asked the leadership team to think of this situation as “people agenda” and not drive the business agenda. (Service sector, Participant 13)
	Productivity is a little low…I’m doing my best but the regular physical meetings give a better picture of what the client is thinking…now I’m not sure… (Service sector, Participant 10) What can I do sitting at home? I don’t have much work….my productivity is very low…(Manufacturing sector, Participant 23)
Boundary blurring	There is no difference between work and home (Service sector, Participant 13) I get calls from stressed employees even in the middle of the night (Service sector, Participant 3) I am working 24 × 7 due to this technology….no break at all (Service sector, Participant 10)
3. Isolation
Professional	I’m working so hard but my manager doesn’t know that….he thinks I am not working properly from home (Service sector, Participant 12) Many times internet connectivity is an issue…this is going to affect my promotion despite my hard work….my team members don’t get to see how I’m struggling (Service sector, Participant 17) Training has increased from once a month to thrice a week….but I don’t feel connected with my colleagues the way it was in the office (Manufacturing sector, Participant 24)
Social	I miss the casual talks I had with my colleagues and friends in the office (Service sector, Participant 16) I feel very lonely….my family is not here….and I don’t feel the same about my work and colleagues as it was before…(Manufacturing sector, Participant 23) I am scared of this loneliness (Manufacturing sector, Participant 24)
4. Self-initiated creativity
Solving organizational long-pending issues	Every year we hire summer interns but this time only I am working closely with them for the first time….we are analyzing survey data that we collected but was kept as it is…now we are getting deeper insights from the data (Manufacturing sector, Participant 7)
	With BS6 technology change, most companies have diesel models but we want to keep our product line running with the petrol model. How to do it is a challenge? And what should be the sales pitch to the customers? I have time to think about these now. (Manufacturing sector, Participant 8) I got the time to review the gap between my company policies and actual practices…I need to revamp the policies now (Manufacturing sector, Participant 19)
Nurturing personal growth	I wanted to have a good command over the best practices in the payment industry but hardly got about 30 min/week. Now, I am spending about 4 h/week reading and learning about it. (Service sector, Participant 4)
	I am learning how to handle data, clearing my doubts about the policies and products and I am doing a module on big data and analytics (Service sector, Participant 11)
	I am indulging in more research now…and taking online classes to update myself and learn better methods of sales negotiation, sales pitch, and credit management. (Service sector, Participant 10)