Public policies of social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic substantially altered working conditions. Professionally, thousands of people suffered profound impacts, such as job loss, compulsory vacations, journey and salary reduction, changes to the use of home office, holiday anticipation, changes in appointments, and goal adjustments. All these changes, on top of family impacts and the virus contamination itself, increased work-related stress greatly. Only one study has investigated psychological repercussions and psychiatric symptoms associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in the Chinese workforce (^{Tan et al., 2020}). Of 673 respondents, 10.8% met the diagnostic criteria for post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after returning to work. Besides, 12% revealed moderate to severe concerns about their physical health. In general, low levels of anxiety (3.8%), depression (3.7%), stress (1.5%) and insomnia (2.3%) were found, there were also no significant differences in respect with psychiatric symptomatology amongst workers, technicians, and executives/managers. Stress related to professional activity results in the individual perception of not being able to attend to working demands, which causes psychological suffering, behavior change, negative attitudes towards work and augmented cardiovascular risk (^{Quick & Henderson, 2016}). In this scenario, activities which help mitigate the stress load and offer relief in the toughest moments become essential.

Volunteering is more and more present in the corporate environment (^{Azevedo, 2007}). Companies have developed this kind of program intentionally and motivated by several reasons, as studies by ^{Azevedo (2007)} and ^{Fischer and Falcone (2001)} show. Besides, they have also started valorizing employees and candidates who have volunteer work experience for available job positions (^{Cook & Jackson, 2006}). Data collected at “Além do Bem”, produced by Santo Caos Consultancy (2017) which involved 828 participants, pointed out that 89% of the interviewed managers from different areas are of the opinion that corporate volunteering makes individuals better professionals, and 62% consider the Volunteering Program as an impactful differential when choosing a job candidate. According to ^{Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (2016)}, volunteering can be decisive for getting a new job. Among the managers interviewed, 82% feel more inclined to choose candidates with experience in volunteering, 92% of managers agree that it improves leadership skills and 80% of managers believe that active volunteers move more quickly to leadership positions. In addition to professional benefits and personal development (^{Loosemore & Bridgeman, 2017}; ^{Willems & Dury, 2017}), several studies point out the benefits of volunteering for mental health, well-being and, more specifically, as an aid in combating stress (^{Cavalcante et al., 2015}; ^{Leviten-Reid & Campbell, 2016}; ^{Musick & Wilson, 2003}; Okun et al., 2015; ^{Stukas et al., 2014}).

Given this context, this study aims to answer the following research question: Can the practice of volunteering relieve professional stress during the COVID-19 pandemic? The study used the Portuguese version of the job scale produced by ^{Alves et al. (2004)} and ^{Hökerberg et al. (2014)}, for measuring stress and was based on a digitally applied survey.

According to a United Nations report, in 2017 more than 1 billion people were involved in some activity as volunteers (^{United Nations Volunteers Program, 2018}). The theme of volunteering is broad and diverse. From people who are willing to test market products, medicines or surgical procedures, to religious devotees who abandon their work to dedicate themselves entirely to volunteer service, there are different contexts and perspectives for volunteering. An increasing interest in the study of volunteering can be seen in recent decades, and the number of publications dedicated to the topic has grown exponentially (^{Hustinx et al., 2010}).

The concept of volunteering incorporates three key components in its definition: (1) it is an active donation of time and/or skills instead of passive support through monetary donations (^{Wilson, 2000}); (2) it is a planned activity (proactive), to a spontaneous act of helping and serving (^{Clary & Snyder, 1999}); and (3) it often occurs in the context of a voluntary or charitable organization (^{Wilson & Musick, 1997}). Thus, the volunteer is an agent of transformation that works for the benefit of the community. ^{Snyder and Omoto (2008)} in a review on the topic of volunteering, defined the term as an aid activity, freely chosen and deliberate, which extends over time and which is often carried out through organizations and on behalf of receptive causes or individuals.

For ^{Cnaan et al. (1996)}, society’s perception of volunteers can be understood according to four dimensions: (1) free will, (2) remuneration, (3) volunteering formality and (4) who they intend to help. This perception in general considers who is a volunteer according to what are the benefits for the volunteer to perform a certain action, instead of what are the benefits generated for society. In other words, the greater the benefits provided to the volunteer, the lower the perception of society as a volunteer. When it comes to the potential impacts for the volunteer as perceived by co-workers, volunteering deemed to have been done for intrinsic reasons is credited by colleagues and stigmatized when motivated to show others (^{Rodell & Lynch, 2016}).

The growth of volunteering within the corporate environment is increasing and seen as part of a broad agenda to motivate companies to act as committed corporate citizens (^{Pajo & Lee, 2011}). Companies and their employees have long recognized their responsibility for the well-being of communities in which they operate and one of the most common ways to generate impact is by contributing through corporate volunteering (^{Brockner et al., 2014}). According to ^{Moreno and Yoldi (2008)} and ^{Herzig (2006)}, volunteering programs originated in the USA in the 1970s and since the 1990s have become common in British organizations, and in European organizations, especially in Holland, Switzerland and Germany. Among the benefits for volunteers, there is the possibility of relationship between volunteering and loyalty to the organization. ^{Brockner et al. (2014)} concluded that volunteering is positively correlated related with the volunteer’s commitment to the organization, and that the experience of personal integrity in the work environment is responsible for this correlation.

For ^{Rodell and Lynch (2016)} the effects of the relationship between volunteering and the work of a certain individual are mutual, considering that the work experience is one of the factors that drive volunteering, especially in situations where the individual does not perceive their work activity as important for his life. In addition, volunteering does not interfere with the individual’s work, on the contrary, there is a positive indirect relationship in performance because the activities complement each other.

Based on the literature on this matter, ^{Loosemore and Bridgeman (2017)} affirm that companies can also benefit significantly from corporate volunteering programs. Pago and Lee (2011), through a questionnaire and focus group, attempted to comprehend, in the employees’ perceptions, the unfolding of the participation of the voluntary initiative sponsored by the company. Findings highlighted the importance of the humanitarian concerns as a key factor to involve employees in initiatives sponsored by the companies. Still, according to the authors, being a volunteer provides a counterpoint to recent academic contributions that have underestimated humanitarian “motivations” or underestimated their potential intrinsic potential motivating benefits for volunteering employees. These include: feelings of altruism (satisfaction of the desire to help and reciprocate); meaning (making an interesting impact); organizational citizenship (helping the company to present a positive image of the community); variety of roles (opportunity to do something other than normal work); relational (creating new social connections); networking opportunities (new relationships); and personal benefits (as an opportunity to build your own reputation) (^{Pajo & Lee, 2011}).

Among the most studied topics in volunteering, motivations and benefits are the most frequent (^{Chacón, Gutiérrez, Sauto, Vecina, & Pérez, 2017}). Although they are two distinct themes, studying them separately would be complex, since the search to understand people’s motivations to get involved in volunteering involves understanding the perceived benefits.

According to ^{Gerstein, Wilkeson & Anderson (2004)}, the motivation for volunteering differs when it comes to gender issues. The authors found that male individuals reported that they perceive benefits in these activities. The motivation of female individuals in general is not associated with the benefits resulting from volunteering. Despite recognizing them, female individuals reported motivations associated with selfishness.

Regarding the volunteer’s age aspect, ^{Van Willigen (2000)} argues that there are also differences in motivations and meanings for the volunteer’s life. Over time, adult and older individuals experience greater satisfaction in their lives by getting involved in volunteering, as well as in the perception of improved health than younger adults. For the author, this difference may be related to the type of volunteer work, which differs per age group.

Beyond benefits for individuals, for companies, there is a possibility of a relationship between volunteering and loyalty to the organization.

^{Dennis, Scanlon and Sellon (2017)} argue that several studies have highlighted aspects and subjective values that influence development, engagement, and willingness to volunteer. For the authors, religious beliefs and values, such as altruism, the desire to repay and help the needy, are also pointed out as reasons for participating in activities of this nature. In this same sense, ^{Garland, Myers and Wolfer (2008)} point out that there is a direct relationship between volunteering and spiritual beliefs and values. For the authors, volunteers who are religious can perform community service more motivated and more effectively. The study by ^{Garland, Myers and Wolfer (2008)} was carried out with 7,405 people and highlights that a great motivation for volunteering is that it provides a way for participants to share their faith.

^{Johnston (2013)} evidenced that the involvement of spiritualized individuals acts, in fact, as a feeding mechanism for targeting a variety of volunteer activities over time. Another aspect highlighted by the author is that people most involved in volunteering at religious institutions are much more likely to engage in volunteer efforts with other voluntary organizations without religious identities.

^{Einolf (2011)} explains that religions, values, ideas, and language are not merely psychological phenomena, but also social facts, as people learn religious principles from other people and internalize them in their own census of identity. They resort to these ideas to engage in social behaviors and use language to build stories that explain why they help others and what helping others means to them. According to ^{Einolf (2011)}, taking ideas and language seriously allows for a broader and more accurate understanding of the connection between religion and helping others.

^{Einolf (2011)} pointed out that quantitative studies demonstrated that religiosity was not a strong predictor of volunteering. Thus, he undertook an empirical study, which included 88 narrative in-depth interviews. One of the most interesting findings of this study was that subjective religiosity had the strongest relationship with wellbeing support when considering involvement in multiple prosocial behaviors. People who volunteered and donated financially to secular religious charities were significantly more likely volunteer than less engaged people.

Several studies have sought to develop ways to measure and identify motivations for volunteering. ^{Bales (1996)} developed the Volunteer-Activism Scale. He created a Likert-like scale, composed of 20 items. In the empirical analyses, ^{Bales (1996)} worked with a sample of 1290 participants and identified four dimensions for measuring the motivations: i) Feeling of effectiveness; ii) Sociability; iii) Idealism or philosophical commitment and iv) Feeling good. The use of this scale makes it possible to deduce which individuals are more likely and those who are less likely to be volunteers in charitable actions.

Nickell (1988) also developed an assessment scale, the so-called Aid Attitudes Scale, whose aim was to analyze beliefs, feelings and behaviors to measure positive and negative attitudes towards helping others. In this research, 408 undergraduate students participated in four different studies to assess psychometric properties of the developed scale. The contribution of this study lies in offering a valid and reliable measure of helping attitudes. The research included a gender issue, and one of the findings of the study was that women have a more positive attitude towards contributing to volunteering.

Volunteering benefits are not often studied in scientific studies. To analyze main findings of scientific articles related to the topic, a research on Web of Science, using the term “benefits of volunt*”, was done. Thirty-two articles were associated with corporate or professional studies, in which can be grouped in four categories by similar subjects: i) Satisfaction of Personal Values, Altruism, Meaning and Belonging; ii) Development of Social Relations, Integration with Society, making new friends; iii) Personal, professional development and acquisition of new skills; iv) Personal well-being, physical and emotional health and longevity. Table 1 shows the distribution of studies between the groups.