By now, many of us have become accustomed to the changes in our daily lives enforced by the COVID-19 pandemic. From masks and social distancing to kids attending school on-line to many of us working from home to new ways to shop for everything, the challenges have been widespread and have met with both mixed reactions and results. Some of these changes will stick, some experts believe. So, what could you expect post-pandemic with regards to your employment?
Changes Have Already Happened
If you’re employed in the public sector, say in healthcare or the service industry, you haven’t had many changes to your job now. Just more equipment with masks, face shields, gloves and sanitizers becoming commonplace for you. Private sector employees, on the other hand, have been sprung from their cubicle farms to brave the waters of working from home. Eyal Gutentag, marketing manager, mentions that some have thrived; self-starters and introverts top his list. People with children remote learning from home, extroverts and those who battle procrastination or disruptions are some of those who have struggled. Gutentag also believes that telecommuting is here to stay since two important things have happened on both sides of the employment relationship. First, he says, employees have learned to be productive and valuable as telecommuters. Second, companies have learned how much they can save by not maintaining office space.
Some Changes Will Stay
Other marketing experts have suggested that some of the changes we’ve seen that will stay include the 9 to 5 workday becoming obsolete, business travel changes, offices as conference centers and not places where people work five days a week, the middle management tier could be gone forever, the workplace could become more equitable for women and most meetings could be replaced by Instant Messaging and e-mail.
What changes have you experienced, work-wise? Which of these do you hope will stay?
