This paper aimed to explore the changes posed by the new COVID-19 pandemic to the field of social work and its impact on social workers in terms of job stress and burnout in Romania. Two conceptual models were used to frame the discussion: the theoretical framework of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) to discuss the challenges that the unprecedented context of the COVID-19 pandemic has created for social workers; and the Job Demands and Resources model (JD-R) to understand job demands perceived as stressors and burnout. Based on convergent mixed methods, the study sample consisted of 83 social workers employed in statutory and private social services in Romania, from different areas of intervention. Results showed that social workers perceived a high level of job stress related to work during the pandemic, which was associated with higher levels of burnout in the areas of personal burnout (average score 55.9) and work-related burnout (average score 52.5). Client-related burnout was lower (average score 38.4), indicating that stress was generated mainly by organisational factors and work-related factors (workload, aligning to new legislative rules and decisions, inconsistency, instability, ambiguity of managerial decisions, and lack of clarity of working procedures) and less by client-related stressors (lack of direct contact with clients, risk of contamination, managing beneficiaries’ fears, and difficulties related to technology). High job demands and limited job resources (managerial and supervisory support, financial resources, and recognition and reward) led to a high to very high level of work-related burnout for 15.7% and an upper-medium level for 44.2% of respondents. A group of 27.7% reported lower to medium levels of work-related burnout, while 14.5% had very low levels, managing to handle stress factors in a healthy manner. Study results pointed to the importance of organisational support and the development of a self-care plan that help to protect against job stress and burnout. Recommendations were made, putting forward the voice of fieldworkers and managers fostering initiatives and the application of sustainability-based measures and activities designed to deal with the challenges of the VUCA environment.

中文翻译：

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在 COVID-19 大流行的 VUCA 世界中，社会工作者的工作压力和倦怠

本文旨在探讨新的 COVID-19 大流行对社会工作领域带来的变化及其对罗马尼亚社会工作者在工作压力和倦怠方面的影响。讨论使用了两个概念模型：VUCA 的理论框架（波动性、不确定性、复杂性和模糊性）讨论了前所未有的 COVID-19 大流行背景为社会工作者带来的挑战；以及工作需求和资源模型 (JD-R)，以了解被视为压力源和倦怠的工作需求。基于收敛混合方法，研究样本包括 83 名受雇于罗马尼亚法定和私人社会服务的社会工作者，他们来自不同的干预领域。结果表明，社会工作者在大流行期间感受到与工作相关的高度工作压力，这与个人倦怠（平均得分 55.9）和与工作相关的倦怠（平均得分 52.5）领域的更高程度的倦怠有关。与客户相关的倦怠较低（平均得分 38.4），表明压力主要由组织因素和工作相关因素（工作量、与新的立法规则和决定保持一致、不一致、不稳定、管理决策含糊不清和缺乏清晰度）产生工作程序），而较少受到与客户相关的压力因素（与客户缺乏直接接触、污染风险、管理受益人的恐惧以及与技术相关的困难）的影响。高工作要求和有限的工作资源（管理和监督支持、财务资源以及认可和奖励）导致 15 人与工作相关的倦怠程度从高到非常高。7%，44.2% 的受访者处于中上水平。一组 27.7% 的人报告与工作相关的倦怠程度较低至中等，而 14.5% 的人水平非常低，能够以健康的方式处理压力因素。研究结果指出了组织支持和制定自我保健计划的重要性，这有助于防止工作压力和倦怠。提出了建议，提出了现场工作人员和管理人员的声音，以促进旨在应对 VUCA 环境挑战的基于可持续性的措施和活动的倡议和应用。研究结果指出了组织支持和制定有助于防止工作压力和倦怠的自我保健计划的重要性。提出了建议，提出了现场工作人员和管理人员的声音，以促进旨在应对 VUCA 环境挑战的基于可持续性的措施和活动的倡议和应用。研究结果指出了组织支持和制定自我保健计划的重要性，这有助于防止工作压力和倦怠。提出了建议，提出了现场工作人员和管理人员的声音，以促进旨在应对 VUCA 环境挑战的基于可持续性的措施和活动的倡议和应用。