As per last week’s blog post, we all know that COVID-19 has created this record-level disruption that has affected several industries that has caused many employers to alter their business practices and methods. The implementation of remote jobs immediately and reducing their work-force to accommodate their lost of revenue are some examples of what has happened. As more and more countries ease restrictions and end their lockdowns, we must try to figure out what is going to happen to not only the economy, but also how life will progress from this moment.
There will be many new challenges that employers will have to face such as how to safely bring people back to the workplace and how they will perform their jobs. The massive problem that employers would have to face is reimagining the workforce and how it will function after the pandemic. While remote work is great as it saves on real estate costs and allows employees the freedom of relaxed work, it stills comes with its own problems like less effective leadership and office interactions between employees that can spark the exchange of ideas and knowledge.
Small businesses will have to take this issue quite seriously as they have to make the necessary changes while trying to stay within the margins of their working capital to keep costs down. Areas such as manufacturing, restaurants and retailing will most likely be hit the hardest and have to face a long road of recovery, but areas such as information services, healthcare and food & agriculture will recover the fastest as they are currently in high demand and are being funded quite well.
This COVID-19 saga will come to an end within our lifetimes, but life will be significantly different. We must prepare ourselves and create back-up plans for future similar events if they are to ever happen. Changes must be made to facilitate a more effective workforce without harming productivity, and it should be a top priority for employers. For more insights on COVID-19 and the economy, please stay here on PMO Partners or contact us for more information.