Introduction: The onset of COVID-19, hereinafter COVID, is an unprecedented time in history. It is not only a unique situation in our lifetime,. Indeed, there have been numerous terrible events that have taken place since the last pandemic but nothing that has had the global impact quite like COVID has. Little is known about when this will actually end and the uncertainty in various ways (e.g., economy, health) surrounding this pandemic is enormous—and much may hinge on how “lucky” we are with medical management and/or finding a vaccine. The World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and numerous healthcare organizations around the world are working hard with the ultimate goal of managing the disease and its health impacts. But, until this pandemic can be in our rearview mirror, the impacts on health, healthcare, economy, labor market, supply chain, work and home life are manifold and potentially lasting for a long time. Some estimates suggest that about 50 % of the US workforce is now working from home [as of April 2020]. Even after the pandemic passes, there may be permanent changes to workplaces and jobs, with some organizations already planning for a future with significantly expanded [relative to pre-COVID] or even nearly perma-nent work-from-home for its employees (e.g., Byers, 2020; Conger, 2020; Khetarpal, 2020). I see no reason to belabor the extent of the short-, medium-, and long-term impacts of this pandemic, given how much has already been
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Results: science, continues to provide a complement to the pursuit of discovery of medications and vaccines. I organized these into two sets of five each: focal groups that should be studied—i.e., underprivileged popu-lations, different countries and cultural contexts, women (vs. men), workers in healthcare (frontline workers), elderly and at-risk—and five general issues and special considerations—i.e., role of technology as the oxygen, pre- vs. mid- vs. post-COVID studies, constraints on data col-lection/research due to COVID, evolution of COVID, and focus on contextualization (generalizability is irrelevant).Together, these ideas present illustrations of projects that researchers can pursue to help us move toward better ways of living and coping with COVID.
Conclusion: The COVID pandemic has created unprecedented changes to all aspects of life but this has also presented unique research opportunities. In fact, they are not just opportunities but an imperative for science to get ahead of the pandemic and provide leadership in solving what is clearly the grandest of grand challenges the entire planet and its people have faced in a very long time. This article specifically presented op-portunities and focal issues for future research on five job-related is-sues—i.e., job loss, job changes, job outcomes, coping, and suppor-t—and five life/home-related issues—i.e., home life changes, children, life-related outcomes, social life, and support. In addition to this, I presented overarching possible research directions and considerations for researchers, editors, and reviewers, as science, especially social
Keywords: COVID-19 impacts
Work life impacts
Home life impacts
Stress
Satisfaction
Work-family conflict