Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Perceived Organizational Support of Indian Professional Millennials

The focus of the present study was to explore and understand the consequences of coronavirus disease 2019, (COVID-19) on Perceived Organizational Support (POS) among Indian professional millennials. The objective was to explore gender differences and the subjective experience of POS. The participants were from the private sector with a minimum of 5 years of work experience at their current organisation falling in the age bracket of 25-38 years. The research adopted a mixed-method design and used the purposive sampling technique. The tool employed for quantitative data collection was the 8-item Survey of Perceived Organizational Support Scale (SPOS, Eisenberger et al., 1986) on the sample size of 60 participants (30 Males & 30 Females). Further, in-depth interviews were conducted on 5 males and 5 females who scored high on POS. Data was analyzed to determine significant differences, if any, between the means of two groups on POS. The interviews were subjected to reflexive thematic analysis. Results indicate that both genders experienced a moderately high amount of POS with males experiencing it marginally more. However, there were no significant gender differences obtained on the POS experienced during COVID-19 pandemic. The themes that emerged contributing to high POS in both groups were well-being, recognition of inputs, job security, financial support, and job interest. The themes clearly suggest that organizations can focus on these areas to support their employees during any stressful conditions. The implication of the present study is that this could impact the long term performances and well-being of the employees.