Irish Network: Grief in the Workplace in the Aftermath of Covid19

The recording of our April 2022 Irish Network event.

In March 2020, life as we knew it was suddenly changed with the onset of COVID 19. Collectively and individually, we have experienced incredible amounts of grief, pain and fear, with limited opportunities to process it all over the last two years. Virtually every aspect of our lives has been upended, including how and where we work outside and inside the home.

As a result, all of that grief is locked up inside the offices, teams, and workplaces of every organization across the country, and around the world. The effects of grief on the workforce can include burnout, fatigue, loss of focus, and a decrease in employee engagement – all of which are negatively impacting companies and organizations around the globe. For the employee who has been working from home, returning to the office fulltime or engaging in hybrid work formats may sound enticing. However the idea of returning to the post-COVID workplace can be equally daunting and upsetting, particularly if the landscape of the work environment has been changed by a loss of colleagues due to ill health or bereavement.

This webinar focused on the effects of grief in the workplace, especially after COVID19, with a special emphasis on what employers and employees can do to acknowledge and process bereavement, loss and grief at work.

Our speaker

Jennifer Moran Stritch is a lecturer and the Primary Principal Investigator of the Loss and Grief Research Group at the Technological University of the Shannon Midwest, part of Social Sciences ConneXions Research Institute. She also lectures on death education and the societal impact of loss and grief for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland/Irish Hospice Foundation, and is the Irish representative to the Association for the Study of Death and Society.

A certified thanatologist with a background in social work, Jennifer has a keen interest in how individuals, especially those from marginalised societal groups, encounter, experience and manage loss and bereavement across the lifespan. Jennifer has facilitated many Death Café events, creating opportunities for people to come together to eat cake and talk about death and grief in all aspects in life.