It should come with no surprise that this pandemic has affected us one way or another. Some have to bunker in their homes to prevent from getting this sickness. Others have. One of the drastic changes of this is people’s day to day work This was a topic I wanted to focus on.
When it was announced that there was an outbreak of COVID-19, it was hard for me to process on how I felt about the situation. For one, this was the first time in my life (probably many people of my generation in this country) that we had to undergo quarantine protocols. Hearing the words quarantine, COVID-19, and other medical terms have since been the normal. Life started to quickly change as Shelter-In-Place orders were initiated, wearing masks became recommended while in public, while standing 6 feet from others to prevent the spread
All of this is a huge change for us that will bring consequences in the future. The one that I think really changes our lives though is the work expectations. For the longest time, majority of the workforce went to work. Many trades obviously require it. Some companies made it necessary for employees arrive to the office to maintain productivity for their staff. This is despite the fact that we have the technology to be able to work from home. But now, society flipped the script. Many companies with a corporate structure were forced to have their employees work from home. They had to come up with a plan to keep the workflow going without risking going out of business.
Perspective
As an IT consultant, this became a very important time as our clients depended on it. As they were focused on how to keep their business afloat, we were tasked in developing solutions so people can work remotely. Each company is different so the answer varied. That ranges from providing equipment for employees, creating documentation for the company to reference in how to access company resources, setting up your infrastructure to handle remote access or VPN tunneling, and potentially more.
Luckily for my client, things were set up to where employees could work from home, but required providing the instructions to do so (also helping out when they had issues in the process). Some situations arose where purchasing equipment was necessary.
My prediction
so what does this mean? What will this lead to? Well it’s hard to say but i had a prediction when this first started. (NOTE: i’m not drawing facts or statistics, this is merely my observation of the world and conclusions based on my experience)
Inevitably, companies were going to either sink or swim. If your company had no online presence (social media, e-commerce, etc.) the odds of you coming out of this strong was much lower. This would make sense as people were restricted to what services they can go to in person. I’ve also learned that where one person loses money, another sparks to gain it. Some will thrive from this as their services might be necessary to power through this difficult time.
Work from home will be a standard. Now, this has become common place over the years. As we see the numbers of COVID cases go down, I wouldn’t be surprised that company management will explore keeping the policy to work from home. This will be for certain reasons. The company would probably try to lower the risk of contamination and spread to avoid a second wave of this pandemic (but also liability). It’s worth the risk of be down employees. The other reason will be to cut costs. Renting office space is pretty expensive and involves a lot of overhead. Furniture, computer equipment, appliances, utilities, and so much more. If i were a company losing revenue yet paying for office space that is barely being used for over 3 months, I start to question why we have it. To each their own opinion, but i wouldn’t be surprised if companies decide to either scale down in office space, go completely remote, or at the very least cut down on other expenses to be able to afford being in the office. You will also notice people asking their current employer to work from home. There are people that actually like to work from home as there could be less distractions or they have a low maintenance as an employee that being at home is ideal. Job openings will eventually come around again will have this on the description to entice candidates to choose them.
People will lose their jobs. This is a sad truth that needs to come to light. It shouldn’t be shocking to hear. I will also add that when this eventually subsides, job openings will open up as companies will need to handle the demand as business picks up. In the current state, companies have laid off people to keep money in the tank. I heard stories over the past few months of businesses laying off a percentage of their workforce. It’s sad to hear as this is a bad time to be that person. There is the option of unemployment, but it isn’t a good long term solution.
Takeaway
I think my prediction is sound but not perfect. There is a lot of moving parts in a company and work from home doesn’t apply for every job. What I will say is companies are going to find way to be more adaptable. This taught everyone that nobody is safe and you need to be prepare for situations. In a matter of a few weeks, we went from a world that everything is “normal”, to a world
If you can take away anything from this post, it is this. Focus on what you want and your goals. With people being out of work, i’ve noticed people taking the time to do projects and pursue other ventures that they wouldn’t before. This also was the case when they had a job. I mean I started this blog during this time as I had the time to actually focus on it. Diversify on what you want or want to learn and apply yourself. It could be something worth making money (I call it a side gig or passive income). Relying on just that one job you devoted hours into can be taken away from you. Society has made it where you had put all of your eggs in one basket in this example, and now times are changed where you need other ways for money in case of this.
I hope this was insightful or enjoyable! Hoping to post more. Stay Tuned!