Working during the lockdown: Where to find support
The exceptional situation we find ourselves in is extremely challenging for most people, both in their professional and private lives. The Human Resources department offers full support: from practical tips on preventing infection to personal advice for individual employees.
Restrictions and complications are now part of our everyday lives. Most of us, however, miss the informal contact, whether it’s a chat at the coffee machine or in the canteen. Things are not easy in our private lives either. Working at home, either alone or with your entire family in a confined space, is no fun. On top of that, many of us not only have work to do, but also need to look after children. Sometimes things can seem overwhelming.
The Human Resources (HR) department has responded to this difficult situation by extending its existing range of support services in recent weeks and is continuously adding new ones. The HR website provides practical tips on working remotely from home and on aspects such as keeping healthy and preventing infection. It also offers parents valuable tips on how best to manage the situation with their children. And most importantly: you will also find the contact details of teams offering individual advice to help deal with professional challenges or how to cope when the personal stress and worries become too much.
A special section on the website is aimed at professors, supervisors and line managers. They can find tips and additional sources of information on how to manage their teams in these exceptional circumstances and how to optimise collaboration in a virtual environment. Now more than ever, direct contact with employees is vital in order to determine how each one can best be individually supported. Every person’s individual needs may be very different now compared with their normal daily routine, for example due to the need to spend extra time looking after children or other family members. Or it may be that someone needs advice because they are worried about a foreign doctoral student who has to spend most of the time isolated in their small room due to the lockdown and has few personal contacts here in Switzerland. Last but not least, managers themselves have access to a range of personal advice options.
More information about support during the corona crisis
All information about the measures taken by ETH Zurich during the coronavirus pandemic can be found on the coronavirus website.