How COVID-19 Will Change the Future of Work

The pandemic of the 21st century has forced more than 20 million Americans out of work. Undoubtedly, the workforce will have to adapt to societal changes caused by this pandemic.

While not all precedents of the new normal will linger on, the following are likely to change:

Flexibility: Although WFH might not be the permanent future, there will definitely be more flexibility to work from home. Commuters might be overjoyed to hear this. The big tech companies have already announced a more remote workforce as a long-term trend. Companies will be shrinking down expenses on real estate. For the past few years, work-life balance has become an increasingly important topic, leading to new discussions about shorter work weeks.

Videos: Videos will be at the heart of business. Skype, Hangouts, Zoom, and other platforms, will be crucial conference tools while social media video platforms, such as TikTok, will be increasingly integrated into marketing plans. In addition, videos have proven to be a more successful marketing tactic compared to counterparts such as images. Travel will become a less essential portion of business, even for industries such as consulting. Of course companies will rise to target the issues brought about by videos and video meetings, such as security and false information.

Attire: Ever since Silicon Valley inspired the trend of casual and business casual work attire, suits and sophisticated work outfits have become less mandatory. Suits will probably not be required for work except for certain meetings. Even if this is the case, most of those at home, will probably only be wearing professional attire from the waist up for the camera’s view. The “Zoom shirt” is no longer a relevant term because it is the new normal, leaving OOTD’s behind to old-school fashion influencers.

E-learning: When the pandemic hit, universities across the country became “Zoom University” overnight. Corporate learning will catch up with digital methods and workers can easily reach employees at their fingertips. The rise of increasing online learning, may yield to increasing competition in the workforce and deflation in the value of education. However, these are all not definite assumptions, and only time will tell.