Corona crisis as an unprecedented source of possibilities

Our current focus on jobs is rightly on the “forgotten” and "left behind". We are transfixed by both the glory and horror of front-line services, their staff and their experiences. The service sector that dominates our economies now appears hollowed out. Zero-hour contracts are swapped for, well, zero hours.

For those that remain in work, Skype, Slack, Microsoft teams, Zoom, Bluejeans are the new office. The implications for companies are evident also. Apple unveiled their new range of iPads and associated gadgets to a ‘ghost’ audience. Celebrities such as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s dog ‘Cherry’ has taught the state of California ‘how to wash their hands’. And major businesses like Netflix and LinkedIn are grappling with the potential of unlimited sick days for employees.

This present-day reality needs to be considered through the prism of what used to be future trends in North America and Europe. Within a North American context, minorities, older adults, rural residents and people with lower levels of education and income are less likely to have broadband service at home. According to Global Workplace Analytics, full-time employees are four times more likely to have remote work options than part-time employees. Moving beyond the US context, high-quality Internet access remains a privilege of the few. If work is to transition on-line in a post-Covid 19 world, the majority will be left behind. And let’s not forget the impact on Africa, Asia, South America and elsewhere.

Future Assumption 1. Automation takes over

Covid-19 shows us a better way to work. This is the theory. Technology is omnipresent in this vision of ultimate productivity. Robots and other forms of automation are set to take over at least some critical societal tasks, as well as those that are not so critical.

A new army of disinfection robots have arrived in China. A Denmark-based robotic company signed an agreement with Sunay Healthcare supply to deliver robots to more than 2000 hospitals. Their purpose is clear. Disinfect the hospitals. Protect both patients and staff. But what is the long-term impact of this on those jobs that used to be done by us.

There is a new societal pressure to keep away from each other. The rise of "ever-healthy" robots to achieve this objective will grow as an option. The person-less Amazon drone that delivers your package is no longer an image of dystopia in a Covid-19 society. It becomes the visual enactment of compassion.

Future Assumption 2. Companies demand homeworking

The costs for businesses are much reported today. The long-term impact is more likely to be on the observable cost reductions involved in remote working. Businesses will realise how individuals like you and I can survive with fewer face-to-face interactions. Travel expenses will be not only questioned based on the validity of that receipt that you submitted. The morality of its need becomes the new challenge.

Global Workplace Analytics estimated recently that a company in the US saves around $11,000 per year per employee when Skype and other online communication software are used to replace on-site conferences, meetings and the multiple workshops that take place across the year. Well-presented buildings in which employees can interact will be replaced by corporate show rooms, much like our high streets. Purpose is replaced by perception.

A clear example is the impact on the way that we view human resource management. Increasing resources are dedicated to complicated human resource investigations or case preventions. The HR Department could now focus its time on a fewer number of complex cases. At least in theory. We will return to this below.

Recommendation one. Respond to new expectations from employees

Employers will need to realise that their duty of care increases in a world where employees are working from home. Each worker needs to figure out what work life balance is best for them given their career pressures, social and family needs. The retrenchment of work to home crosses that personal line that was once a step too far.

The now famous article in “the Atlantic” entitled “Agoraphobia and the Telecommuter” in 2014 provides insights into why employers need to adopt this new responsibility. "Working from home didn't cause my agoraphobia, it just enabled it". This shifting of work to home raises new problems. And so should expectations for employers to respond. Companies need to step up to this new reality.

Recommendation two. Reconceptualise the idea of teams

The shift in our working practises to the virtual online world offers a new border-less reality that should be embraced. The bricks and mortar of buildings compartmentalise working processes and structures. The modern-day shift in transportation allowed us to transcend the limitations to an extent. The long-term move to working at home means that a team will become ever more porous.

This will inject new life into businesses that see this opportunity. Within an organisation, the transition between floors, office or campus sites is accelerated further by the option to engage beyond even national borders. This was always the case of course. But we are social animals after all. When our normal interactions are virtual, so become their boundaries.

The potential for innovation is clear. The power of individual workers to break out from hierarchical structures was a characteristic of the Silicon Valley revolution. Covid-19 will speed this process further to break traditional power structures for the benefit of self-organised originality.

Recommendation three. Embrace sustainability

The example raised above of the employer restricting travel is one that we need to avoid. Covid 19 offers the chance for both employees and employers to face up to the realities of climate change.

The need for so many international and even national networking events, inter-campus or site travel, or even the demands of a lengthy commute, should all now be questioned. Is this really sustainable in both environmental and social terms? We should collectively reflect on whether a positive for our working lives could be the heightened awareness of the need to travel less. Within a work context, we need to consider that short-term trips, or what we now know as “non-essential travel”, could be the past. The madness of sporadic unthinking needless carbon intensive movement could be at an end.