Inspired by burgeoning scholarly interest in the role of digitalization in the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper examines how the COVID-19 pandemic is driving or constraining the digitalization of businesses around the globe. We contend that COVID‐19 is “the great accelerator” in fast-tracking the existing global trend towards embracing modern emerging technologies ushering in transformations in lifestyle, work patterns, and business strategies. Thus, COVID-19 has evolved to be a kind of “catalyst” for the adoption and increasing use of digitalization in work organization and the office, alongside presenting foreseen and unforeseen opportunities, challenges, and costs—leading to negative and positive feedback loops. In this article, we develop and advance a conceptual model by linking the different forces for and against digitalization in response to the pandemic. Our analysis indicates that adoption of emerging technologies may be hindered by vested external interests, nostalgia, and employer opportunism, as well as negative effects on employee well-being that undermine productivity, work–life balance, and future of work. Whilst digitalization may bring new opportunities, the process imparts risks that may be hard to mitigate or prepare for. Finally, we draw out the wider theoretical and practical implications of our analysis.

受学术界对数字化在 COVID-19 大流行中的作用日益浓厚的兴趣的启发，本文研究了 COVID-19 大流行如何推动或限制全球企业的数字化。我们认为，COVID-19 是快速跟踪现有全球趋势的“伟大加速器”，拥抱现代新兴技术，带来生活方式、工作模式和商业战略的变革。因此，COVID-19 已发展成为工作组织和办公室中采用和增加使用数字化的一种“催化剂”，同时带来了可预见和不可预见的机会、挑战和成本，从而导致负面和正面的反馈循环。在本文中，我们通过将支持和反对数字化的不同力量联系起来以应对这一流行病，开发和推进了一个概念模型。我们的分析表明，新兴技术的采用可能会受到既得外部利益、怀旧情绪和雇主机会主义的阻碍，以及对员工福祉的负面影响，从而破坏生产力、工作与生活的平衡和工作的未来。虽然数字化可能带来新的机遇，但这一过程也会带来难以减轻或准备的风险。最后，我们得出了我们的分析更广泛的理论和实践意义。