Remote work in America after Covid-19
The future of work from home and the digitization of jobs
When America’s borders closed on March 21, 2020 it was the dreaded signal we were in for an appalling rollercoaster ride. But when governors across states shut down businesses and social gatherings, the real drama began, cherry-topped by the pandemonium doled out by the media 24/7, captivating the public in a perpetual state of stress, uncertainty and doom.
The duty fell upon the resilience of the American spirit to find a solution and continue on. This is the strength of America: we rally together and solve herculean labors. The challenge of getting the economy out of life support had to be assayed, attacked, conquered, and fast. This was to be the golden age and the future of remote work.
Remote work technology to the rescue
As luckless industries slowed to a screeching halt, the challenge then was to adapt work-from-home strategies, to salvage the essentials and shore up the dam. The answer lay in technology; the internet — the backbone of modern communication. Silicon Valley is synchronous with remote work, because it’s been wired and plugged to the world for decades; there’s a techie in every corner of society coding away and clicking buttons.
They already had developed solutions work-from-home strategies needed to survive. Virtual chat rooms exploded, Zoom zoomed up the stockmarket. The concept spread like the wildfires to come, and we held on for dear life into the mysterious and unknown. That was then. Today, 500 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine with efficacy topping out at 95%, are scheduled for release by year’s end at warp speed. So what happens to remote work when millions get immunized, and the gears of society churn once again?
The future of work and the office
Remote work is here to stay. In August of this year, Pinterest, the digital images sharing service, announced the termination of a 490,000 sq ft lease in San Francisco, citing the expansion of working from home and digitization trends as influences. “A more distributed workforce will give us the opportunity to hire people from a wider range of backgrounds and experiences,” said Todd Morgenfeld, Chief Financial Officer. Considering it cost Pinterest $89.5 million to cancel the lease, its actions demonstrates the company’s commitment to the future of remote work.
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company made a similar announcement as early as April, transitioning to a hybrid work environment in four main corporate campuses, and a full work-from-home strategy in most other locations within the US. As Nationwide CEO Kirt Walker stated, “We’ve been investing in our technological capabilities for years, and those investments really paid off when we needed to transition quickly to a 98 percent work-from-home model.” Many other industries are following suit, but The Economist said it best: “The glory days of the office are gone.”
The future of automation
Versatile industries are thriving without their employees’ physical presence, and brilliant ideas continue to shine around digital watercoolers across time zones. For those who are in industries where even a hybrid work schedule is not possible, or who don’t have remote digital skills, there are two challenges ahead: training and adaptability. Automation and AI technologies are being adopted faster than ever before.
In a study by the University of Chicago¹ — about 37% of jobs in the US can be done from home. For example, protean fields like management, education, tech, finance and law are versatile enough to roll with the punches. But others like social services, sales and personal care occupations have licked their wounds and morphed to survive.
Employees at higher risk of getting the virus have and are being replaced by chatbots and robot cleaners. American Eagle Outfitters is using robots to sort clothes in its warehouses in order to meet a surge of online orders. Robots are now doing everything from cleaning factories, mixing salads, security patrols to customer service.
IBM saw a surge in new customers from March to June of this year, gaining 100 new clients for its AI-driven Watson Assistant, a platform for chatbots and other customer services. Such technologies have proliferated at an unforeseen pace — they had to — with human contact now discouraged, reliance on virus-susceptible employees is an unfortunate liability.
How to mitigate the challenges
Individuals who reject vaccination, aren’t tech savvy, or simply refuse to fully adapt will be at a disadvantage in the new landscape. But there’s hope, albeit through self-mitigation, responsibilty and effort: they must adapt, embrace remote work and the new reality. If robots are taking your jobs, it may be a good time to learn how to operate, sell or make a robot — they too need mechanics, programers, care, love and attention to stay relevant.
If you can’t forgive a robot for taking your job, then perhaps it’s time to find another career, learn the new skills in demand and adapt to the times. Much like how the dotcom era dropped a bomb on Tower Records and Blockbuster Video, businesses have to take the initiative — retool their factories and business plans to meet modern demand, and proactively retrain loyal employees for the new horizons ahead, or risk falling into the void of oblivion.
Therefore, the challenge is not only implementing remote-work concepts and technologies to the workspace, rather it’s motivating people to adapt to those technologies, and to create new habits and practices to work with the technology itself. Those already in remote jobs, with remote skills, in remote-friendly industries are and will continue to be in high demand. Those who are not must find ways to adapt, change careers or risk facing obsolescence.
Rogue Script LLC
¹ Dingel, Jonathan I., and Brent Neiman. “How Many Jobs Can Be Done at Home?” Journal of Public Economics, vol. 189, Sept. 2020, p. 104235. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104235.
