The Working from Home Revolution
The Covid-19 has resulted in a sudden shutdown of most hotels, bars, gym facilities, schools, and most offices. The Covid-19 has forced more than 80% of the workforce to shift to working from home. The coronavirus has frozen the hiring of new employees, and also industries like hospitality and education have been forced to lay down some of their employees. The industries cannot anymore sustain their employees because of the lockdown of the economy. For instance, in the U.S., more than 3 million people have registered for unemployment benefits. For the few people whom their employees have not been affected have been mandated to work from home as a precaution to protect themselves from the deadly coronavirus. Covid-19 has made it necessary for companies to shift to virtualize their businesses by allowing their workforce to work from their homes.
Before the pandemic, some forward-looking managers had pushed for the implementation of flexible working conditions in their organizations without success. However, due to the Covid-19 and lockdown effect’s rising cases, most companies have become flexible in their work. Companies have been mandated to shift their employees to work from home. The companies will benefit from this change as they will save on office space and the costs involved with renting large offices to accommodate the employees. The other best thing about working from home is that the employees will save more money as there will be no transaction involved with commuting or buying lunch. A survey by Gartner research firm has found out that at least 5% of its employees will permanently work from home after the Covid-19 pandemic. The worldwide lockdown of economies in some countries will make most companies shift their working culture.
The lockdown lessons have made it necessary for companies to adapt the working from home policy. Companies have virtualized their operations. According to Sweney’s (2020) article, it is evident that most companies are likely to increase the virtualization of their companies. Besides, remote working has succeeded in most companies than expected (Sweney, 2020). Working from home will be beneficial to both the company and the employees. It will save on office space, meetings will be conducted online, and there will be less corporate travel due to virtualization. Working from home will cause fewer disruptions than it had been expected before Covid-19 came.
Working from home policy will help in maintaining the economy during this period of the Covid-19 pandemic. The working from home revolution will reduce office distractions experienced in most companies. The employees will also get a chance to have a flexible working schedule. It will also provide a custom working environment where employees determine the level of noise as they work. The change in working will also make the employees more productive as they will avoid chatty colleagues and other office distractions. The revolution of working from home will result in more good than harm.
In conclusion, companies must allow their employees to work from home during this Covid-19 pandemic. This will protect the employees from contracting the coronavirus. Companies need to be flexible in their work by adapting to the online working system. Working from home will enable businesses to continue operating and maintain the economy. Working from home proves to be cost-saving to both the corporates and the employees; therefore, after Covid-19 comes to an end, workers should be allowed to work from home and remotely.
Reference
Sweney, M. (2020). From Boardroom to Spare Room: The Working from Home Revolution. The Guardian.