Background: This paper examines the impact of coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak on employees’ mental health, specifically psychological distress and depression. It aims at identifying the main stressors during and post COVID-19, examining the main moderating factors which may mitigate or aggravate the impact of COVID-19 on employees’ mental health and finally to suggest recommendations from a human resource management perspective to mitigate COVID-19’s impact on employees’ mental health. Methods: This paper is a literature review. The search for articles was made in Google scholar, Web of Science and Semantic scholar. We used a combination of terms related to coronavirus OR COVID-19, workplace and mental health. Due to the paucity of studies on the COVID-19 impact on employees’ mental health, we had to draw on studies on recent epidemics. Results: The identified literature reports a negative impact of COVID-19 on individual’s mental health. Stressors include perception of safety, threat and risk of contagion, infobesity versus the unknown, quarantine and confinement, stigma and social exclusion as well as financial loss and job insecurity. Furthermore, three dimensions of moderating factors have been identified: organizational, institutional and individual factors. In addition, a list of recommendations has been presented to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the employee’s mental health, during and after the outbreak, from a human resource management perspective. Conclusions: Coronavirus is new and is in a rapid progress while writing this paper. Most of current research are biomedical focusing on individuals’ physical health. In this context, mental health issues seem overlooked. This paper helps to broaden the scope of research on workplace mental health, by examining the impact of a complex new pandemic: COVID-19 on employees’ mental health, from social sciences perceptive, mobilizing psychology and human resource management.

Canada), with a Ph.D. and a master's degree in Industrial Relations with a major in human resource management. Dr. Salima Hamouche has strong academic background and practical experience in human resources management. She has been practicing human resource management for more than 12 years, as an HR consultant, human resource director, general director, human resource manager, and talent acquisition specialist in small and large organizations, in different sectors of activities (industrial, services, education) and multinational companies. She made several presentations at scientific conferences and she led corporate training and workshops in different public and private companies. Dr. Salima Hamouche was sitting for several years on boards of directors in Canada, as administrator and vice president.

Purpose Based on the self-evaluation maintenance model and social comparison theory, the purpose of this study is to test a novel model to explore the influence of competitive psychological climate on knowledge withholding of employees with the mediating role of envy. This study also investigated when the effect of climate on envy is more pronounced by assessing the role of a narcissistic personality. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected time-lagged data from 376 employees working in UAE national banks to test the model. Findings The findings of this study showed that a competitive psychological climate indirectly affects knowledge withholding behaviour because such a climate enhances the emotional response of employee envy. In a competitive climate, upward social comparisons are likely to be heightened, resulting in employee envy and knowledge withholding because knowledge is used as leverage to gain self-control and self-worth in the organisation. This effect of such a climate on employee envy was found to be stronger when employees have a narcissistic personality. Originality/value The findings offer practical insights to managers and practitioners on the importance of managing the competitive climate cautiously to address the likelihood of knowledge withholding behaviour among employees at work.

This study aimed at examining the impact of E-HRM on organizational health. It focused on telecommunications companies operating in Jordan. Data were primarily gathered through self-reported questionnaires created in Google Forms and distributed to a purposive sample of senior managers via email. AMOSv24 was used to test the study hypotheses. The results of the study show that E-HRM has a positive impact on organizational health. Based on the obtained results, the researchers recommend managers and decision-makers of the telecommunications companies in Jordan to invest in electronic human resources systems, which can help them fully implement human resources practices electronically, to obtain economic savings and to be able to attract talents. The study also highlights the importance of focusing more on the electronic training and development process in order to raise individuals’ practical capabilities, which is reflected in their creativity.

Purpose The labor market has witnessed the increase of the new forms of employment relationship (freelancers, contingent workers, and gig workers) due to the COVID-19 outbreak, generating new workforce patterns that represent a significant challenge for human resource development (HRD) professionals in organizations. Studies that have addressed these new forms of employment relationship and HRD during this pandemic are sparse. This paper aims to broaden the scope of HRD research by exploring the implications of these new forms of employment relationship for HRD in the time of COVID-19. It also provides insights for HRD professionals as well as governments into how to address this challenge. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a viewpoint that addresses the new workforce patterns generated by the COVID-19 pandemic and their implications for HRD at the organizational, individual and national levels. Findings COVID-19 sheds light on the importance of atypical workers who can create a competitive advantage for organizations, ensure their continuity and significantly benefit national and societal well-being in times of health crisis. However, these atypical workers are often overlooked when it comes to training and development. Whence the importance, for HRD professionals and governments, to address their situation and to integrate them into organizational and national HRD plans and programs, by going beyond traditional models of HRD which focus mainly on standard employees. Originality/value This paper examines a relatively unexplored topic. Besides examining the implications of the new forms of employment relationship, for HRD, it provides insights for HRD professionals and governments into how to address the challenges related to these new forms of employment relationship.