In chemistry, a catalyst is a substance that causes a chemical reaction to take place more quickly. I would want to believe COVID-19 is not a chemical composition designed to speed up technological changes in the world and make the robots take all our jobs. Haha, I am no conspiracy theory propagator but doesn’t this add up? Just Kidding. It’s no secret that all those hours we sat in long endless meetings could have be substituted for a zoom meeting. How is the Job market going to look in the future? This is a question that has been bugging everyone, is the current degree I am trying to finish going to be relevant? Would I be replaced? How special is my presence at work? One thing COVID-19 has done is give us a sneak peak of what the future of work would look like. Analysts believe 4–6 years of change has been accelerated into 7 months of rethinking and restructuring the way we work. What does that mean for us trying to start a business or get that dream job?
The remote working revolution is here! For the year 2020, many had great expectations but the inconceivable happened as the world was assailed into this pandemic. Companies have had to change their modus operandi, transitioning to remote working. To offer my two cents, I believe flexible working is the more apt term in this context than remote working. Why not work from anywhere? home, coffee shops and creative spaces. The idea now is that the office isn’t a factor for working. Constant communication and collaboration through meetings are the hallmarks of working remotely. That would mean that Irregular calls at odd hours has come to stay. Following one conversation with a friend the divisive line between life and work is a rather thin line. Our lives revolve around work now and we need to redesign work into our lives else work life balance becomes a myth. Adaption to remote working is quite difficult because naturally, people miss social interactions; the office banter, gossip and seeing their favorite people at work.
Companies need to rethink how to measure productivity since the number of hours worked does not translate to being productive. Remember times where you had to stay at your desk till after 5? Yes, that’s a thing of the past now. 9–5s don’t exist anymore. An ideal work setup is when people can choose the number of days they want to work in the office or in a different space. Going Remote will not entirely solve all the problems relating to work now nevertheless this is what we have and you either “Adapt or Perish”.
