Research by graduate students at St. Bonaventure University suggests that the pandemic has permanently altered the workplace and the market for searching for jobs.

The findings of 17 Master of Business Administration students were published July 13 by the Jandoli Institute as part of the institute’s Hybrid Journalism Project.

The article, “How has COVID changed expectations for students entering the workforce?,” was reported and written by John Stevens, a lecturer in St. Bonaventure’s School of Business, and David Kassnoff, a recently retired lecturer in the university’s Jandoli School of Communication. It is the first of five hybrid collaborations that the institute will post this summer.

As part of the project, professors from different disciplines partnered with faculty from the Jandoli School to develop and produce news stories.

“The goal was for the non-journalism faculty to gain insight into our industry and for the journalism faculty to learn how those with knowledge and expertise in different fields can strengthen our reporting,” Jandoli Institute Executive Director Richard Lee said.

For the article, students in Stevens’ Organization Behavior course surveyed dozens of companies and examined where employees worked during the pandemic, as well as how companies relied on digital technologies, managed workers’ productivity, retention and turnover and other workplace issues.

Among their findings:

• Work/life balance may be more important than compensation for students entering the workforce.
• Not all new workers will prefer to work remotely.
• To be successful, businesses will need to be flexible and have the ability to adapt quickly to change and unforeseen circumstances such as the pandemic.

Full details are in the article on the Jandoli Institute website.

The institute’s hybrid journalism project is funded by a grant from the Leo E. Keenan Jr. Faculty Development Endowment.

The Jandoli Institute, a part of the Jandoli School of Communication, serves as a forum for academic research, creative ideas and discussion on the intersection between media and democracy.