The Future of Work: Work Life Post Covid-19
Remote work is here to stay, it is not a passing trend. How will the new work environment affect the future of careers?
Covid-19 is transforming people's relationship to work with millions now out of a job and many more getting used to working in a very different way. Although the world economy has been witnessing a gradual shift to remote work, the sudden shock of the pandemic has forced an abrupt and permanent work-from-home transition.
The need for workers to gather together in offices has shaped almost every aspect of modern life, in this sense the shift toward remote working could be the beginning of a revolution as it implies far-reaching consequences.
Automation: The Next Industrial Revolution
"COVID-19 has moved the conversation about the future of work into the present, accentuating the need for a long-term perspective that does not just rebuild from past models, but develops strategies that create resilience for future crises."
The lockdown has forced firms to discover new ways to accomplish their tasks with less human labor and more automation where telepresence is a significant form of automation. In fact, this article claims that the pandemic reassured everyone that some jobs can definitely be done from home, a practice that has been proposed before Covid-19 but was considered not practicable (especially for heavily populated cities).
However, this year's largest work-at-home experiment has proven otherwise; employers and employees understood that virtual meetings are just as effective as face-to-face meetings — if not more effective in terms of costs. Technology has shown us once again how to cut business costs.
Automation is the next Industrial Revolution.
Pre-Covid vs. Post-Covid
The Future of Remote Work, a deep analysis by the economist Adam Ozimek based on pre and post covid survey statistics, suggests that the share of remote workers in the U.S. has quadrupled to nearly 50% of the nation’s workforce.
Interestingly, the analysis's survey reveals a lot more than the rise of remote work; it shows that the experiment of remote work has proceeded better than expected from the perspective of working conditions. For 56% of hiring managers, working remotely has gone better than expected, and for another 35%, it has gone as expected.
The positive results of the experiment, as the Future Workforce survey suggests, are set to accelerate the trend of remote work even more rapidly.
Many Major Companies Have Already Announced Employees Can Work Remotely Long Term
A new survey found that two-thirds of American companies expect work-from-home policies will remain in place permanently or at least for the long term.
“A return to the 2019 normal isn’t going to be possible for organizations” John Beattie, a disaster-recovery expert.
Here’s a list of companies that have already announced remote work as a permanent business strategy: Twitter, Facebook, Square, Coinbase, Mastercard, Nationwide Insurance.
Companies in technology, financial services, insurance, and other industries that can successfully function over internet lines are choosing to keep their people home. Why would they bring them back if workers are being much more productive than before, or at least, equally productive? Unfortunately, though, not all sectors are equipped to work from home.
Economic Opportunities and Challenges
“Many existing trends are experiencing accelerated adoption rates, and these changes in behavior will be the New Normal after the pandemic passes.”
A study by Princeton University suggests that E-commerce is very like to expand while physical retail will shrink. Moreover, software and hardware that facilitate WFH are likely to be growth opportunities.
On the other hand, these are bad times for startups, air travel, leisure and hospitality. In America, restaurants alone employ around 12 million people, but currently only about 8 million; in Europe, tens of thousands of jobs have been lost in the airline sector.
It will be very hard for these sectors to recover. The United Nations World Tourism Organization estimates trillions of dollars in revenue losses in 2020, as international tourism is set to plunge by 80%.
The Economic Effects of Working From Home: Structural Unemployment
It seems a near certainty that remote work will remain which is good for those who can work from home, but what about those who can't?
Teleworking will inevitably displace office time and business travel. This means a large reduction in daily commuting trips, and business excursions; it also means a steep decline in demand for building cleaning, security, and maintenance service; hotel workers and restaurant staff; and myriad other workers who feed, transport, clothe, entertain, and shelter people when they are not in their own homes.
This is significant because these services make up a large and rising share of employment among workers; collectively, these services account for one in four U.S. jobs. This is very bad for low-paid workers who will probably suffer a significant hardship as they seek new work, potentially in occupations where they have no experience or training.
The Dangers and Benefits of a Work-From-Home Revolution
For those who can, remote work may sound like a dream come true but just like working in an office, it has its benefits and drawbacks.
Although no one could deny the productivity gains from teleworking, there are so many doubts and questions about this new transition.
For instance, does everyone demonstrate a high sense of responsibility, professionalism, and seriousness to make this work; moreover, there are concerns that once workers aren’t tied to physical offices anymore, they may effectively be competing in a global market where they are relatively expensive versus workers in other countries.
All of these questions can be answered by Darwin's theory of social evolution:
“Survival of the fittest"
Revolution isn't meant to be easy, but this is only the beginning and the best we could do is adapt to this new work environment. I personally think that the few remote managers having trust issues should relax as the positive results of the experiment so far tell us we are heading to a brighter, more productive future.
