The COVID 19 epidemic has changed the way we do many
things. Some of these changes will become permanent. One of the big changes we
have seen is in working from home. To protect their employees from the virus,
many companies have been allowing employees who can do so to work from home.
The big tech companies have been doing this and plan to continue at least through
the end of this year. So much work is done these days on computers and over the
internet that tasks can be done at home as easily as they can in a corporate
office.
Working from home has advantages to employees, to
businesses and to society at large. Because of this, the change in work
procedures is likely to become permanent. Employees can save the time and
expense of a long commute to work. They can also save the cost of business
clothes because they can wear anything they want on the job done at home.
Businesses that allow work at home save money on office space. During the
partial shutdown in this country, those who do go out have observed much less
traffic on the road. Scientists tell us that atmospheric pollution has gone way
down in recent months because there are fewer cars on the road.
Several members of my extended family have been working
from home during the crisis. One of them is my daughter, who works for a small
internet company. They serve their customers over the internet, so workers can
do this easily at home. Several employees live in states far from company
headquarters. My daughter has been able to work from home occasionally when it
is convenient for her to do so.
People who work from home save of the expense of commuting
and office clothes. They also save on lunches because they’re not likely to go
out for lunch when they are home. They also have more choice about where they
will live if they don’t have to live within commuting distance of the office.
If working from home becomes widespread, it will
affect many areas of modern life. The money that employees save on commuting,
clothes, and lunch, is money that someone else will not earn. People who do not
drive to work will not need to get newer cars as often, and they won’t buy as
much gas. Recently the price of petroleum dropped so low that producers had to
pay storage facilities to take the excess off their hands.
As for saving money on business clothes, several
old-line department stores have filed for bankruptcy in recent years. The
stores are not only feeling a lowering demand, they are also facing competition
from online sellers like Amazon. While J C Penney files for Chapter 11, Amazon’s
business grows larger. Companies like Walmart and Target are surviving the
crisis because they emulate Amazon. Customers don’t have to go to Walmart to
buy stuff. They can order it online. Indeed, during the crisis, online ordering
has often been the only way people can purchase things they desire. Customers
have found how convenient it is to look up merchandise over the internet, make
comparisons and order the product. Increased online shopping is going to be one
of the long-term effects of the COVID 19.
Restaurants operate on a small margin at best. They
are feeling the effects of the COVID 19 very strongly. For several months they
could not operate as they usually did. They tried to keep afloat by offering
takeout meals. Now they can serve on tables outside, as long as the tables are
far enough apart. Both of these techniques might help the restaurants keep
their heads above water, but they are not going to be as profitable as
traditional restaurant methods have been. Several fast food chains have been
considering Chapter 11. When things start to recover, some restaurants will not
be among them.
Real estate will be affected by the changes that have
been brought about by the epidemic. Right now New York City is losing population.
Well-to-do people who have a second home have been fleeing to those homes to
escape the contagion of the big city. Workers who have lost their jobs have
been moving out, perhaps to live with family members in other places. If working
at home becomes a more readily available option, many people will choose to live
someplace less expensive.
No one knows of course what life will be like after we
have recovered from the pandemic, but we know there will be major changes in
the way we do many things. And the handwriting is on the wall for many of these
changes.
