Theorising the impact of macroturbulence on work and HRM: COVID-19 and the abrupt shift to enforced homeworking

Abstract

This paper is among the first to fuse Social Exchange Theory (SET) with Boundary Theory (BT) to expand the knowledge of HR scholars and practitioners on the repercussions of macroturbulence for the management and experience of work. In-depth interviews were conducted with 102 academics from UK universities to examine the nexus between COVID-19 and changes to work at meso and micro levels. The findings extend SET and BT by elucidating how complex internal and external social exchange relationships interact more intensely and provoke tensions with a wider array of work-life boundaries during a profound global crisis. Based on these findings, we advance a new analytical framework which provides a deeper and more integrated theorisation of the interrelationship between macroturbulence and changing work-life boundaries. Moreover, we identify implications for practice, which have widespread and ongoing significance given that different types of macro-level change will continue to disrupt working lives.