Effects of COVID-19 on accounting professionals’ job behaviors, focusing on the moderating effect of organizational communication

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused mandatory lockdowns across all organizations. Telework generated challenges in workflow due to limited organizational communication. OBJECTIVE: This study seeks to examine the impact of pre-, during, and post-COVID-19 on accounting professionals’ job behaviors and tests the moderating effect of organizational communication. Also, the study aims to provide implications for practitioners from the findings. METHODS: Survey data for accounting professionals working in North Carolina across COVID-19 time periods was collected to achieve a sample size of 333. Pairwise t-tests and hierarchical regression analyses were applied to test the hypotheses. RESULTS: The results suggest a statistically significant difference across certain time periods for job performance and turnover intentions but not job satisfaction. Furthermore, organizational communication moderates the relationship between post-COVID-19 and job performance and turnover intentions but not job satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Organizations should search for ways to enhance organizational communication to increase employee perceived job performance and decrease employee turnover intentions.