It’s evident that the novel coronavirus has changed how we work. Largely, many of us continue business operations by working from home. While remote working has increased because of state-mandated stay-at-home orders, will the changes continue after the crisis ends? If not, what will the future of work look like? In this article, we have compiled what habits and expectations are likely to continue.
How COVID-19 is accelerating changes in how we work
With an increasingly multi-generational workforce, remote work was already predicted to be the norm by 2028. The coronavirus pandemic only accelerated the adoption of remote work and digital communication. Companies like Zoom, Microsoft, and Google have responded to the increased digital demand for their video conferencing and other digital communication applications, as well as project management tools.
But is the influx sustainable?
The increase itself is not sustainable, but the way we work will not go back to how things were a few months ago. Instead, as Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365 Jared Spataro says, we will be entering a “new normal” once the crisis ends. We will take our recent adaptions to the work-from-home lifestyle and update corporate policies to be more flexible.
With the exploding opportunity to work from home, more employees are likely to expect the option in the “new normal” and with future employers. Enterprises that don’t continue flexible, remote options after the crisis will likely lose employees, especially millennials and Gen-Zers, which can harm a business’s diversity and inclusion efforts.
The future of streamlined operations and expenses
Companies are also realizing how cost-effective and efficient distributed teams are. By removing much of the in-office chatter and distractions, personnel may be able to dedicate more focused time to their work, if their lifestyle allows for it and they are not worried about the pandemic.
According to this Forbes article, “Layers of management will disappear along with very expensive physical plants, while investments in office perks can be reallocated to salaries or (more likely) the bottom line.”
Even more, the implementation of a full-time remote team could mean that enterprises could hire highly skilled workers from across the globe. This could further benefit companies that have diversity and inclusion initiatives, as well as companies that struggle to find unique talent in their area (or who are willing to relocate to their area).
Remote work could also save employees time and money by removing their daily commute, which averages 26.1 minutes one way. Remote work would remove over 4 hours per week and 200 hours per year in a vehicle, lowering the total cost employees spend on gas and car maintenance for work-related travel.
The future of cybersecurity
As enterprises implement and expand their work-from-home initiatives, they will also need to utilize cloud-based services, including cloud-based cybersecurity and network security efforts.
We offer a variety of solutions that protect your cloud users and data, control who enters your network, and develop a security program strategy to meet your enterprise’s unique and ever-changing needs.