Job satisfaction during Covid-19 social distancing: The case of teleworkers in Vietnam

Covid-19 outbreaks have provided an impetus for Vietnam's government organizations and large corporations to embrace teleworking. Given the pandemic's yet uncertain termination, the essential question is what factors affect teleworkers' job satisfaction and performance while experiencing social distancing. Because teleworking is a relatively new concept in Vietnam, there is a scarcity of study has been done to analyze its effects on many variables such the location and the type of job. The study aimed at addressing these knowledge gaps by interviewing the citizens of Binh Dinh and Vung Tau provinces on their job satisfaction and the elements involved in their work from home. The research findings reveal a high level of job satisfaction and its demographic and work-related relation. These insights will assist the government and business in responding to the epidemic-related changes in labor patterns in Vietnam.


Introduction
A novel coronavirus was identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province in December of 2019 (Lewnard and Lo, 2020).In March 2020, The World Health Organization named this the world's first coronavirus pandemic, following 118,000 new cases and 4,291 deaths (Newman, 2020).Since then, the global society, economy, and healthcare systems have been influenced by the proliferation of COVID-19.The illness has never been fully understood because of this, and therefore vaccine development has yet to bear fruit (Qian and Jiang, 2020).
The global public health campaign that aims to halt the spread of the virus calls on people to wash their hands often, to limit the amount of time they spend face-to-face with others, and to always wear masks in public ( Van Bavel et al., 2020).Furthermore, countries have implemented social distancing measures (Ding et al., 2020) that required individuals maintain social distance when in public places, schools are closed, reduce congregations and businesses, and people are advised to stay at home to keep them safe (Mohler, 2020).
Due to the lack of a validated therapy for COVID-19, the only effective way to battle the virus and protect public health is reducing exposure among people through social distance (Lewnard and Lo 2020;Thunström et al. 2020).Governments worldwide have implemented unprecedented laws and guidelines aimed at increasing social isolation inside and across nations.While these social distancing tactics save lives, they come at a high cost to society (Thunström et al., 2020).
Due to social distance, the majority of offices allow workers to work from home.This is a common kind of teleworking, which refers to completing work away from the office or conventional workplace (Di Martino and Wirth, 1990).Computers and specialized software have recently developed alongside the use of e-mail, fax, and telephone to enable telecommuting (Baruch, 2000).
Teleworking has a range of benefits that have been shown in several studies.People who work from home can keep travel to the workplace to a minimum.Teleworking also reduced agency running expenses, transportation congestion, and gas costs for society (Apgar 1998).Work-from-home workers are free to accomplish any assignments they have been given, which enhances their total productivity.Attracting skilled employees from across the nation and even from other nations is advantageous for agencies that utilize teleworking (Baruch 2000).
Telework also creates issues.Employees who telecommute frequently express their dissatisfaction with their social isolation, support, and professional progress (Caillier, 2014;Golden;Timothy and Veiga, 2005).When there are several pros and drawbacks of teleworking combined, the overall job satisfaction of remote employees might be affected.Since the mid-1970s, when the energy crisis struck, companies have expanded the usage of teleworking (Mann and Holdsworth, 2003).The great increase in teleworking occurred in the 1990s, mainly because of the increased usage of information and communication technology (Shin et al., 2000).
Many individuals throughout the world have had to work from home due to a social distance limitation imposed during the crisis.But given WHO's warning that there might be another wave of viral infection, this seems to be not a temporary solution (Mohler, 2020;Newman, 2020).
Vietnam has witnessed four outbreaks of the Covid-19 virus from January 23, 2020 forward.The first (23/1-16/4) started with a single case from Wuhan, whereas the second entry point into Da Nang (25/7-1/12/2020) featured the city as a hotspot.The third time was during the Hai Duong province breakout (28/1-25/3/2021) whereas the fourth outbreak involved all provinces with the Southeast becomes a "hot" area and had a quicker-spreading viral strain, beginning on May 28, 2021, and continuing until September, 2021.During those outbreaks, various levels of social distance were enforced across the country.
Many government facilities, non-essential businesses that are not vital, and stores all close.Most state agencies utilize Zoom, Google Meet, Facebook, and Skype to communicate and work when they are at home.In light of WHO's warning and second breakout of cucumber rot virus in Vietnam, people in Vietnam and elsewhere must think about their futures in light of the virus.The problem of teleworkers' job satisfaction is essential in sustaining their productivity for societal progress if teleworking becomes the new norm.
Though teleworking and job satisfaction have been extensively examined in developed countries (Wong and Heng, 2009), the literature demonstrates a lack of understanding regarding the empirical relationship between telework and employees' satisfaction at work (Caillier, 2014).It's worth noting that the majority of respondents in studies on the job satisfaction of home teleworkers did it voluntarily.There has been little research on the job satisfaction of persons forced to work on a massive scale, particularly in light of the Covid-19 outbreak.In Vietnam, even though teleworking has only recently been a part of Vietnamese culture, study on the subject in general, as well as on specific regions and occupations, is sparse.To address these knowledge gaps, a questionnaire survey was conducted on 176 residents of Binh Dinh and Vung Tau provinces to gather information in teleworking at the time of social distance.
Seven components make up the paper.Following the introduction, Section 2 reviews the literature on job satisfaction.Section 3 describes the methodologies used in the research.Section 4 analysed the findings of this investigation.Section 5 discusses research results while Section 6 provides conclusions.Section 7 states the paper's limitations and provides some recommendations.

Job satisfaction
Job satisfaction, which pertains to the overall attitudes and sentiments of employees about their job, has proven to be a great motivation for studies in the field of management science (Spector, 1997;Waqas et al., 2014).According to Price (1997), employees' level of job satisfaction can be defined as the extent to which the employees have positive feelings about their workplace.Meanwhile, Aziri (2011) defines job satisfaction as a collection of variables that contribute to a sense of fulfillment, which can manifest itself in both good and negative sentiments about the workplace, such as satisfaction or dissatisfaction.Positivity and favorability toward the job are indicators of job satisfaction.Negativity and unfavourability about work imply job dissatisfaction (Armstrong, 2006).Individuals' job satisfaction levels can range from high satisfaction to severe dissatisfaction (Arizi, 2011).
The employees' level of satisfaction is highly important to the organization's success, because it influences their work behavior and productivity (Khera and Gulati, 2012;Wong and Heng, 2009).Numerous studies have proven an exceptionally strong correlation between job satisfaction and employee's motivation, which has an effect on productivity, and therefore on the organization's operations and activities (Spector, 1997).
Employees' job satisfaction appears to be influent by not just their own expectations but also on their circumstances (Khera and Gulati, 2012), igniting a debate among researchers on job satisfaction (Waqas et al., 2014).Numerous studies on the subject have confirmed that demographic characteristics (gender, age, education level, and experience) have a mixed effect on job satisfaction.According to certain studies, job satisfaction is influenced by gender, individual requirements, and age (Morge, 1953).Other experts, on the other hand, argue that there is no correlation between job happiness and age, gender, education, or experience (Smith et al., 1977).
Employee satisfaction at work is also dependent on job characteristics and work environment.As part of their duties, employees are required to perform duties that include job content and meaning, remuneration, advancement, equity, supervision, and personnel management for the agency (Lodahl and Kejner, 1965; National Center for Educational Statistics, 1997; Saeed et al. 2014).Herzberg et al., (1993) develop the two-factor theory of job satisfaction that identifies the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on the job satisfaction (Ramllal 2004).Intrinsic factors (or motivators) included achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, and growth.Extrinsic factors (or "hygiene" factors) include those that are related to the job surroundings, such as company policies, salary, monitoring, colleague interactions, supervisory styles and work environment (Alfayad and Arif, 2017;Lu et al., 2005).
Motivation can be raised by fundamentally altering the character of an employee's job, i.e., via job enrichment (Porter et al., 2003).Thus, employment should be adjusted to provide increasing responsibility and challenge, as well as opportunity for promotion, personal growth, and recognition.Job satisfaction is related to a sense of personal accomplishment and professional success (Aziri, 2011).It is frequently assumed to be inextricably linked to both productivity and personal well-being.Job satisfaction comprises participating in work that one enjoys, performing well, and being recognized for one's efforts.Job satisfaction is a measure of how well expectations are satisfied and how well real rewards are obtained (Aziri, 2011).
While numerous research on job happiness have been undertaken, only few have evaluated job satisfaction as a function of telework (Baruch, 2000).Additionally, it is divided on the issue of teleworking and job satisfaction.According to some researchers, teleworking may help enhance job happiness (Fonner and Roloff, 2010;Wheatley, 2012).Some authors claim that job satisfaction is one of the most frequently stated benefits of telework (Gajendran and Harrison, 2007;Pinsonneault and Boisvert, 2001), although questions persist about the advantages and disadvantages of working remotely.It has been observed, however, that some teleworking's drawbacks (stress, solitude) tend to drive people away (Caillier, 2014;Golden and Veiga, 2005;Morganson et al., 2010;Shin et al., 2000).
According to research on teleworkers' job satisfaction, the highest levels of job satisfaction are achieved by individuals who possess both demographic traits (such as age, gender, and ethnic origin) and job attributes (such as responsibilities, pace, and leadership opportunities).For that reason, I focus on both types of variables in the study.When assessing job satisfaction, I consider demographic factors such as age, gender, education level, marital status, and ethnicity.To get insight into job characteristics and working conditions, I evaluated various types of work, workloads, pay, and performance when working from home.

Research Methods
Quantitative and qualitative research were employed in tandem throughout the investigation.The study began by conducting a review of prior studies on teleworking and job satisfaction.Additionally, a questionnaire survey was administered to 176 people working in various occupations in Binh Dinh and Vung Tau provinces.The questionnaire comprises twenty questions regarding job satisfaction and the several benefits, and problems that individuals face when working from home during social distancing caused by Covid-19 outbreaks in 2020 and 2021.This study employed the Minessota Satisfaction Quest questionnaire (Arizi, 2011) with these response categories: • Very satisfied, • Satisfied, Additionally, 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain more insights into the advantages and challenges when employees working from home.SPSS version 20 was used to analyze quantitative data using descriptive statistics, crosstabulation, and Chi-square testing.Qualitative data were evaluated thematically to establish the critical themes underlying these concerns, which included the advantages and disadvantages of working from home.

Research Results
The 176 respondents in the study were on average 37 years old and varied in age from 19 to 63 years.The two largest groups were between 31-40 (42.6%) and 41-50 (34.1%).Only 19.9 percent of poll respondents were between the ages of 19 and 31.Males made up 47.7% of the population, while females constituted 52.3%.Nearly all respondents (99 percent) identified as Kinh, Vietnam's largest ethnic group while 98.9% claimed to have no religious affiliation at all.In terms of marital status, 55.4% reported being married with children, 14.1% were single and 1.2% were divorced.
By occupation, 14.2% were employed by the People Committees (PC) at various levels: ward, village, district and province.About 26.7% of those surveyed worked for organizations (Women Associations, Youth Associations, Veteran Associations, Farmer Associations, and Provincial Party Committee Departments) with some serving as leaders.22.7% were employed by the province government in a range of departments and subdepartments, including Home Affairs, Planning and Investment, Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, Social Insurance, Culture and Information, local news agencies...About 23.9% worked at educational institutions like schools and colleges, as well as research institutes.12.5% of respondents were service personnel, including employees of businesses such as power companies, hydropower businesses, architectural consulting firms, service centers, shops (Table 1).
Monthly incomes of respondents varied from 1,300,000 VND 1 (USD 56.7 ) to 50,000,000 VND (USD 2,180), averaging 7,808,468 VND (40.5 USD).5.1% of respondents earned less than 3 million VND (USD 130.8), 60.8 percent earned between 3-7M, 17.6% earned more than 9 million VND (USD 392.5), in which just 5.1% earned more than 18 M (USD 785) (See Figure 1).Among the 4 types of job occupation, 33.3% of employees of People Committees earned below 3M and 43.3% of organizational staff earned between 5-7M.More than a quarter of organizational staff, teachers and service employees had the salaries between 9-13M.40% of teachers, lecturers and researchers earned between 13-18M.44.4% of this group also had the salaries more than 18M.The difference in employees' salaries of the five job occupations however is not statistically significant.Respondents' salaries For the first social distancing, 57% of respondents worked from home for an average of 15 days, whereas 12% worked for 60-70 days.Some were compelled to work from home for more than four months as part of the fourth social distancing.Their primary responsibilities were producing reports/projects (mostly organizational staff and employees of People Committees and governmental departments), handling documents (mostly organizational staff, employees of governmental departments and People Committees), teaching, managing staff (mostly employees of People Committees and service organizations), planning (mostly organizational staff, employees of People Committees), professional work (organizational staff, teachers, lecturers and service employees), architectural designing and engineering work , receiving and tackling clients' complaints, researching, accounting, filmmaking (mostly service employees) (Table 2).41.2% of respondents (mainly organizational staffs and employees of governmental departments) reported performing the same activity at home as they did at their offices prior to the social distancing.39.5% (also organizational staffs and employees of governmental departments) reported little changes in their jobs.Only 9% (mainly organizational staffs ) were required to perform more complex jobs, while 10.2% (mostly teachers, lecturers and researchers, service staffs) were required to perform entirely different activities.With regards to workload, 40.9% reported no change and 41% reported having less work than previously.Nonetheless, 17% acknowledged a heavier load.All respondents used laptops and PCs for work, talked with coworkers via email, Zalo, Sky, and Facebook, and used either organization-specific or general office software.

Job satisfaction
Research findings indicated a high level of job satisfaction: 77.8% of participants appeared to be content with their work-from-home experience, in which 17% expressed highly satisfied.When asked why they were satisfied with their jobs, 70% stated that they could work from home and some stated that they had enough time to balance work and family responsibilities.While this is true, around a quarter, 21.6%,reported being dissatisfied with their work, primarily due to the ineffectiveness of their work or the work required some conditions outside the home (Figure 2).Due to the fact that all respondents were Kinh and held bachelor's degrees, the research concentrated on job satisfaction by age, gender, and marital status.Females (53.8%) were more content with their work-at-home position than males (46.2%).While males were unsatisfied with teleworking at a rate of 1.4%, women were dissatisfied at a rate of 48.6% (Figure 3).However, the whole group of persons who were extremely dissatisfied were women.Marital status appeared to have an effect on teleworkers' job satisfaction.Among those satisfied with their job, 78.4% were married while 19.8 percent were single.Out of married respondents, 79.1% were satisfied, but out of single respondents, 77.1% were satisfied.Single respondents (20%) expressed the same level of dissatisfaction with their telework as married respondents (20 percent).Although the difference between the two samples was not statistically significant, it was noteworthy (Figure 4).Job satisfaction was statistically significant (Sig = 0.000) when age was taken into account.The survey found that the majority of respondents in the 31 to 41 age group (89%) were the most satisfied with their workfrom-home arrangements.Followed by the 41-50 age group (65%) (Figure 5).Only 40% of the youngest group and 6%of the oldest groups were satisfied with their work.Job dissatisfaction was highest for the respondents aged 41

Work-related factors affecting job satisfaction
When it comes to things connected to work, the research studied respondents' jobs, responsibilities, wages, workloads, job performance, benefits, and difficulties associated with working from home.Analysis of data revealed that while people were becoming removed from one other socially, individuals' level of job satisfaction differed greatly among occupations.Overall, 84-85% of People Committees' employees and governmental departments who used telework reported being satisfied, including around 20% who were very satisfied.76.1% teachers, lecturers and researcher and 62% of services employees were satisfied with their home-based job.While the number of organizational staff who were satisfied with their jobs was lower (72%), this category had the greatest rate of highly satisfied employees (53%).All respondents who were very dissatisfied also fell into this category (27.6%) (Figure 6).Teachers, lecturers, and researchers reported the highest levels of satisfaction with their telework (100%), followed by managers (88.4%), document handlers (88%), teachers (80.9%), and those performing professional work (78.1%).Only 30% of architectural design professionals were satisfied with their job (Figure 7).As a result, this group has the highest rate of job dissatisfaction (70%), those responsible for customer service (50%).89.7% of respondents stated that they continued to execute the same tasks as they did before to the social distancing.83.6% of those performing the same tasks as before the social distancing were satisfied compared to 61.1% of those performing different tasks.
40.9% of the workers who spent most of their time working at a computer at home reported having the same burden, while 41.5% of respondents reported experiencing a slight reduction in their workload.Only 10.2% stated that they were required to perform diverse tasks and 17% received with heavier work load.The relationship between workload and job satisfaction is statistically significant (Sig=0.004).83.1% of respondents who were extremely satisfied and satisfied with their jobs reported having the same workload.53.3% of those who were required to perform heavier workload additional work were unsatisfied with their telework (Figure 8).

Figure 8. Job satisfaction and workload
Additionally, a statistical relationship exists between respondents' job duties and workload (Sig=0.000).100% respondents responsible for writing report, handling documents, performing professional work, conducting research, and accounting reported that their workload was same or slightly reduced.This is followed by manager (92.3%) and architects (85.7%).21.4%of teachers indicated an increase that their workload had increased.
Respondents making plans faced a similar scenario (20%).14.3% architects reported increasing workloads while 50% those tasked with clients' concerns saw their work heavier.
Work satisfaction and payment were shown to be strongly correlated (Sig = 0.001).It turns out that employees earning 18-50 M were found to be the most content (100%) in terms of telework in social distance, followed by those earning between >9-13 M (82%) and >13-18 M (80%).Job satisfaction appeared to decline in general with salaries less than 9 M. The group earning >7-9 million dollars looked to be the least satisfied with their telework (Figure 9).

Figure 9. Job satisfaction and salaries
Overall, 8% of employees rated their work as great while being able to work remotely.By comparison, 36.4% of employees who worked from home evaluated their employment as good, 19.3% believed their outcomes were average, 17% believed their outcomes were identical, and 19.3% expressed dissatisfaction with their performance.These job performance ratings had a significant connection with respondents' job satisfaction (Sig = 0.000).Each teleworker who rated their performance as excellent expressed satisfaction with their work-from-home arrangement.97% of individuals surveyed saw their work as good and 93% saw their performance as the same satisfied with their telework.62% of dissatisfied workers judged their performance as being worse than it was before to the social distancing (Figure 10). .Job satisfaction and job performance A bit more than half (63.1%) of respondents claimed that working from home had some benefits, while the other half (36.9 percent) stated that it had none.It was highly statistically significant (Sig = 0.000) that having the benefits of working from home while maintaining satisfaction with telework was present.86.7% of those who were very satisfied and 66 percent of those who were satisfied indicated some benefits of working from home.On the other, of the respondents who found themselves dissatisfied, 62.2% claimed they had no advantages.(Sig=0.000).However, 63.3% of those who were very satisfied and 57.7% of those who were satisfied still reported experiencing some difficulties with telework (Sig=0.008).Though these issues were not statistically related to occupations or duties, people who handled paperwork and wrote reports appeared to face more difficulties when working from home.

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The thematic analysis of 20 interview transcripts revealed three key themes regarding the benefit of working from home: IT assistance, flexibility, and efficiency.All responders worked from home using laptops or computers.Apart from word processing software, the majority of organizations/offices provided employees with specialized software for duties such as document management, report authoring, and accounting.Other apps, such as Google Meeting, Zoom, Zalo, and Skype, aided respondents in communicating with colleagues for the purpose of discussing or reporting.Working from home also assisted respondents, particularly women, in balancing professional and household responsibilities.Female employees mentioned flexible time, flexible schedules, and the capacity to balance work and domestic commitments as perks.Additionally, interviewees indicated that telework enabled them to save commuting time and be proactive about working from home.As a result of these factors, they may be able to perform better work at home.Simultaneously, respondents highlighted four primary themes as contributing to their difficulties: distraction, an unsatisfactory work environment, decreasing interaction, and low performance (Table 3).Respondents expressed much dissatisfaction with their internet connection, which frequently disrupted during their telework.Those responsible for document handling and report writing were particularly harmed by a scarcity of office equipment such as photocopiers, printers, and scanners.Those responsible for planning expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of references and materials.All interviewees mentioned a lack of information necessary for conducting telework during the period of social separation.Face-to-face communication appears to be a significant barrier for teleworkers, particularly organizational personnel and employees that handle client complaints.The majority of interviewees stated that communication via Zoom, Google Meeting, or Zalo was insufficient to substitute for their need for direct communication when working with colleagues and clients.Managers had to spend considerable time processing and guiding people to perform needed tasks.The efficacy of the agency's work is entirely dependent on the individual's self-consciousness and cannot be fully controlled.Most organizational staff during the interviews complained about inconvenient exchange, inefficient check of the grassroots union (due to limited contact with unions, employees, businesses).Teleworkers also admitted that their time to work from home was reduced, exchanging work with superiors and individual units was more inconvenient than when working in direct contact at the office.Working conditions at home were not as proper as in the office.The coordination with departments and branches to solve professional work was limited, grasping the actual situation arising at the grassroots cannot be implemented, so the proposed solution was not feasible.Interviewees also concerned that sometimes their colleagues did not respond them in time, taking more their time when exchanging work.Interviewees also claimed that telework reduced their motivation and enthusiasm at work.They believed that direct working environment would foster each individual to learn many things from colleagues.Though researchers and lecturers were particularly interested in online education, they believed that managing their students in these classes was challenging.Additionally, it is challenging for both teachers and students to complete assignments online for practical courses.Respondents were evenly divided on whether to maintain telework following the Covid-19 epidemic, with 42.6% in favor and 57.4% opposed.This perspective has been linked job satisfaction (Sig=0.000).30.7% of those very satisfied and 60% of those satisfied with telework preferred to continue working remotely after social distancing.81.1 percent of those dissatisfied and 100% of those very dissatisfied with telework rejected the idea.More lecturers (68%) and People Committees' employees (52.6%) would like to work from home after social distancing more than other types of occupations.Organizational staff (74.3%) and service employees (59.1%) rejected the idea of teleworking after social distancing (Figure 11).When employees in Binh Dinh and Vung Tau provinces (Vietnam) teleworked during periods of social distance, they reported a high degree of job satisfaction (78%).This figure appears to be consistent with recent research on teleworker job satisfaction (Fonner and Roloff, 2010;Pinsonneault and Boisvert, 2001;Wheatley, 2012).Additionally, the research corroborates prior studies indicating that a sense of autonomy and flexibility contributes to this high degree of satisfaction (Fonner and Roloff, 2010;Gajendran and Harrison, 2007;Hill et al., 1998;Morganson et al., 2010).The research, however, identifies a number of distinctions that add to current arguments about two often discussed aspects of teleworkers' job satisfaction: work-life balance and the effects of declining face-to-face communication.To begin, some authors assert that work-family conflict may act as a barrier to further expansion in teleworking (Baruch, 2000).While others say that telecommuting helps develop work-life balance by allowing working women to spend time caring for their children and elderly relatives (Duxbury et al.,1992;Riley and McCloskey, 1997).In the case of forced teleworking, the article demonstrates that, while respondents acknowledged some benefits related to family flexibility, they complain more about a lack of a suitable work atmosphere and being distracted by housework, which combined to hinder them from performing effectively on their assigned responsibilities.
Additionally, some authors (Fonner and Roloff, 2010;Gajendran and Harrison, 2007) assert that reducing in person interaction has significant benefits, in part because it alleviates the stress associated with frequent information exchange and thus the stress associated with workplace interruptions.Teleworking, on the other hand, is impractical for a large number of forms of production that require human presence to coordinate effort (Baruch, 2000).One of them is the possibility that teleworkers may become isolated and disenfranchised from the rest of society.What home-based workers lack is the human touch (Baruch, 2000;Cooper and Kurland, 2002;Ruppel and Harrington, 1995).Empirical observations from this study shows a significant issue that employees encounter when working from home: less interaction, which means employees receive less information and fewer opportunities to coordinate with colleagues.This distinct effect of reduced in-person interaction is one of the hardest aspects of working from home.
The research findings also indicate that both demographic and work-related factors have an effect on teleworkers' job satisfaction during the course of the 2020 and 2021 social distancing.While Baruch (2000) claims that gender did not play a significant role in job satisfaction, Felstead (1996) found differences of job satisfaction between males and females.Similarly, Wheatley (2012), for example, claimed that teleworking benefits more working women.The research findings show that regardless of gender, religion, or marital status, employees participated in the survey reported being satisfied in their jobs.Nonetheless, the level of employees' satisfaction with telework is correlated with age.Professionals in their mid-career appeared to be more satisfied with their work at home than those who were either new to the profession or senior.This empirical result corroborates other writers' findings that remote workers in the middle of their careers reported the highest levels of job satisfaction (Morge, 1953;Sinha, 1961;Smith et al., 1977).This pattern of people growing more content with their jobs as they age may be explained by Maslow's theory of human needs (McLeod, 2007).While the psychological demand for motivation has waned in mid-career professionals, their desire for esteem, such as recognition and attention, has not.
In terms of work-related factors, job satisfaction does not differ statistically between occupations but is influenced by workload, duties, salaries, job performance, advantages and challenges in working from home.Employees of certain occupations, such as governmental officials and teachers, were likely to be happy because their workloads were similar or slightly reduced compared to that of before the social distancing.Salary is a significant factor in determining employee satisfaction with telework.Both job satisfaction and dissatisfaction appear to increase in lockstep with salary, peaking at the salaries over 18 M and then dropping as salaries decrease.Many employees with a wage of more than 9 M saw their income as a reasonable reward for their complicated tasks.People with salary between 5-9 M often have tasks which required more in-person communication and certain working conditions that the work can home cannot fulfil and thus their job satisfaction appear to decline in forced telework during social distancing.Most teleworkers with the salaries less than 5 M perform simpler tasks when working from home so their satisfaction was a little higher the group between 5-9 M. The research on the impact of income on job satisfaction has revealed that variables such as "hygiene" did, also contribute to job satisfaction, contrary to Herzberg's two-factor theory, which views these characteristics solely as predictors of job discontent (Alfayad and Arif 2017; Cano and Castillo 2004).
Most research on job satisfaction show a strong correlation between satisfaction and performance (Baruch 2000; Gray et al. 1993;Hussain and Rehman, 2013;Huws et al. 1990).Respondents in this research were required to work from home as a result of social distance being implemented in reality, something they have not previously encountered.Their sense of fulfillment and responsibility was apparent since they had been able to do the same or slightly reduced amount of work despite the Covid-19 epidemic.As shown by this, employees who were happy with their employment were nevertheless reporting challenges.Additionally, these workers didn't want to continue teleworking because of social distancing.
Many studies on the relationship between teleworking and job satisfaction (mostly in developed nations) find that telecommuters have a high level of job satisfaction, although the cause of this may be very different from one study to the next.Working from home has become a new normalcy for the Vietnamese people during the four periods of nation-wide social distancing in 2020 -2021.This survey in Binh Dinh and Vung Tau province, Vietnam on residents who work from home has found several noteworthy results.The high level of job satisfaction in the study is consistent with other studies and their job satisfaction was impacted by both demographic and work-related characteristics.
Gender and marital status do not have a statistically significant impact on job satisfaction.In terms of work-related factors, job satisfaction does not differ statistically between occupations but is influenced by workload, duties, salaries, job performance, advantages and challenges in working from home.Employees of certain occupations, such as governmental officials and teachers, were likely to be happy because their workloads were similar or slightly reduced compared to that of before the social distancing.
Despite the aid of technologies, however, working from home can cause problems that negatively influence a person's job happiness.There are several issues with teleworking during social distancing, namely distraction caused by family responsibilities, a lack of social connection, poor working environment, and less productive tasks.Respondents who had distinct duties, such as service personnel and media professionals, encountered more difficulty than respondents who did not have these distinct responsibilities.Even if over half of the workers who were happy with their jobs discovered some issues and did not want to continue teleworking, most of them found additional problems and chose to work at their location.

Limitations and Recommendations
These findings will help government and employers understand possible ways to enhance employee performance as a result of teleworking becoming the new standard in Vietnam.Although workers from various professions had their responsibilities completed from the privacy of their own homes, as with other instances of social distance, this demonstrates that some things may be done efficiently from home.It was shown that teleworkers' performance might be enhanced by higher remuneration, better supervision, and more involved management.A customized teleworking policy must be designed based on age group, work duties, working conditions, and workloads.
The results of the study, however, should not be generalized to include the job satisfaction of all Vietnamese employees, as the research was performed on a limited sample in Binh Dinh and Vung Tau provinces.More research on bigger populations and in various places is required to identify the elements that influence job satisfaction for teleworkers.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Respondents' salariesFor the first social distancing, 57% of respondents worked from home for an average of 15 days, whereas 12% worked for 60-70 days.Some were compelled to work from home for more than four months as part of the fourth social distancing.Their primary responsibilities were producing reports/projects (mostly organizational staff and employees of People Committees and governmental departments), handling documents (mostly organizational staff, employees of governmental departments and People Committees), teaching, managing staff (mostly employees of People Committees and service organizations), planning (mostly organizational staff, employees of People Committees), professional work (organizational staff, teachers, lecturers and service employees), architectural

Figure
Figure 6.Job satisfaction and occupations

Figure 11 .
Figure 11.Job satisfaction and teleworking after social distancing