WORKING FROM HOME

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.