Implications of Employment Changes Caused by COVID-19 on Mental Health and Work-Related Psychological Need Satisfaction of Autistic Employees: A Mixed-Methods Longitudinal Study

Israeli employees with autism who had to work from home during COVID-19 experienced significantly lower competence and autonomy satisfaction than before the pandemic.

“For example, Israeli employees with autism who had to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic experienced significantly lower competence and autonomy satisfaction than before the pandemic149.”

Only two studies carried out statistical analysis to examine the impact of WFH on neuro-divergent workers.

“only two studies carried out statistical analysis to examine the impact of WFH on neuro-divergent workers [42,46].”

One study found that neurodivergent participants still physically reporting to work showed no change in emotional distress whereas those WFH showed a marginally significant increase in distress.

“finding that neurodivergent participants still physically reporting to work showed no change in emotional distress whereas those WFH showed a marginally significant increase in distress.”

Many participants, without the presence of managers to monitor their working hours, dedicated extreme hours to their work.

“Many participants, without the presence of managers to monitor their working hours, dedicated extreme hours to their work [42,43,55].”

Some participants with ASD reported increased work-life balance because they could manage their time more freely and spend more time engaging in hobbies.

“Conversely, some participants with ASD reported increased work-life balance because they could manage their time more freely and spend more time engaging in hobbies [42].”

Some participants described the lack of transition between work and home, making it difficult to unwind, describing how bringing work into a place that should be calm and secure could be emotionally harmful.

“Some participants described the lack of transition between work and home, making it difficult to unwind, describing how bringing work into a place that should be calm and secure could be emotionally harmful [42].”

WFH was associated with a significant decline in satisfaction of psychological needs for competence and autonomy.

“but was associated with a significant decline in satisfaction of psychological needs for competence (e.g.feeling capable) and autonomy (e.g.feeling that their choices were based on their interests and values).”

WFH was not associated with change in job satisfaction.

“WFH was not associated with change in job satisfaction”

Working in the home meant there was no clear division between home and work environments, which made it difficult to maintain an appropriate balance.

“Working in the home meant there was no clear division between home and work environments, which made it difficult to maintain an appropriate balance [39,42,44,48,55,57,58].”

For some, the lack of structure negatively impacted waking and sleeping hours while for others it left time for self-deprecating thoughts and anxiety.

“For some, the lack of structure negatively impacted waking and sleeping hours [58] while for others it left time for self-deprecating thoughts and anxiety [42].”

By contrast, at home participants could create comfortable, quiet, less overwhelming environments suited to their needs with autonomy over temperature, lighting and noise.

“By contrast, at home participants could create comfortable, quiet, less overwhelming environments suited to their needs [39,47,54,55,57-59,61] with autonomy over temperature, lighting and noise [39,42,52,55,57].”

This meant they could choose to work during the hours they were most effective, taking breaks when needed, allowing them to feel they had greater autonomy.

“This meant they could choose to work during the hours they were most effective [57,59], taking breaks when needed [39,50], allowing them to feel they had greater autonomy [42,60].”

Not commuting allowed more time for sleep.

“allowed more time for sleep [42]”

Technological problems such as poor internet connection and sound issues on video calls were cited as challenges.

“and technological problems such as poor internet connection and sound issues on video calls were cited as challenges [42,60].”

Some participants with ASD preferred in-person communication because of the availability of visual cues to ensure they responded appropriately; opportunities to ask questions instantly and directly, making it easier to receive immediate feedback and ability to demonstrate to colleagues that they were being productive.

“Some participants with ASD preferred in-person communication because of the availability of visual cues to ensure they responded appropriately [60]; opportunities to ask questions instantly and directly, making it easier to receive immediate feedback [42] and ability to demonstrate to colleagues that they were being productive [47].”

One study found that homeworking was associated with increased distress and reduced satisfaction, but this was based on 23 employees in Israel and it is unclear whether the results are generalizable because of the relatively small, limited sample.

“One study found that homeworking was associated with increased distress and reduced satisfaction, but this was based on 23 employees in Israel and it is unclear whether the results are generalizable because of the relatively small, limited sample [42].”

Participants in two qualitative studies acknowledged the benefits of learning new technological skills.

“Participants in two qualitative studies acknowledged the benefits of learning new technological skills (sub-theme: 'Increased use of technology') [42,60].”

Participants in several studies described experiencing distractions while WFH.

“Participants in several studies described experiencing distractions while WFH [41,42,44,47,55,56,58,60].”

Inboxes could be overwhelmed due to policies and guidance on WFH and increased work-related communications, leaving participants working long hours to maintain productivity.

“Inboxes could be overwhelmed due to policies and guidance on WFH and increased work-related communications, leaving participants working long hours to maintain productivity [42,44].”

Three research participants shared the opinion that remote work can lead to challenges in conducting effective training, acquiring knowledge, and learning, mainly in the onboarding phase but also as part of job retention.

“During the interviews, three research participants shared the opinion that remote work can also lead to challenges in conducting effective training, acquiring knowledge, and learning [17], mainly in the onboarding phase but also as part of the job retention stage.”

Eliminating the necessity of daily travel between home and the workplace translates into saving time and money and reduces the impact of sensory stimuli.

“eliminating the necessity of daily travel between home and the workplace translates into saving time and money and additionally reduces the impact of sensory stimuli [17].”

Goldfarb et al. explored the remote digital work experiences of employees with autism associated with the digital transition in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The major exception is a study by Goldfarb et al. [17], who explored the remote digital work experiences of employees with autism associated with the digital transition in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Goldfarb et al. noted that an increase in work-life balance is presented as an advantage of remote working due to flexible work scheduling.

“Goldfarb et al. [17] noted that an increase in work–life balance is presented as an advantage of remote working due to flexible work scheduling.”

Remote working was preferred by others among the neurodivergent population, including individuals with ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and autism.

“Furthermore, remote working was preferred by others among the neurodivergent population, including individuals with ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and autism (see [15,16,17]).”

Social distancing in remote work settings may be beneficial to employees on the spectrum who seek less intensive interpersonal communication, but may also inadvertently limit opportunities to learn from other coworkers.

“Similarly, while social distancing [37,38] in remote work settings may be beneficial to employees on the spectrum who seek less intensive interpersonal communication, they may also inadvertently limit opportunities to learn from other coworkers [17].”