COVID-19 Points out to a New Normal: Telecommuting: Adaptability is Key
It turns out that this 'fear and uncertainties' combine was put into perspective with what I call 'unnecessary anxiety' about whether people will die or lose their jobs, and things like that. Doubting the future due to current uncertainties is human nature. We always want to know what the future will bring, but we rarely take advantage of current trends to foresee and prepare for it. The truth is we are too conservative and have an affinity for the habitual while disguising the imminent new. And this makes us vulnerable to the uncertainties of tomorrow. People tried so hard in the first place to land their jobs, as we know them, which they still comprehensibly hang to in these times. And suddenly they are about to so strangely lose them. To make matters worse, besides the risk of losing their jobs, people find that their own lives are at stake. So, there would be every reason for them to be anxious. After all, aren't they realistic since these events are actually occurring putting everything they have--jobs, their own lives, their loved ones' lives-- at risk ? What if my answer to this question were, well, 'No'?
Yes, 'No' is the answer I formulate to that question.
why? you may be wondering.
Well, this is because what's realistic is the fact that most of us won't die, will regain our jobs, and will be given a chance to perform again--only not just how we used to. What's realistic is telecommuting--working from home--is the new normal. That's reality.
Eventually, some people will die, and many have already, and the death toll can still rise if we can believe those knowledgeable guys out there that we call epidemiologists, doctors, health authorities, and you name it. And yes, some people have already lost their jobs, too. These are two undeniable facts, among many others. Still, a great many of other people have retained their jobs through telecommuting and managed to do well so doing. There have been some complaints from both employers and employees about this newly made mainstream virtual workplace setting. But the essence of those complaints is part due to the inherent discomfort that characterizes any attempt to bring about and effectuate change. Research shows that people's natural and primary response to change is resistance. But change is irreversible and irresistible by nature. It ends up enacting itself. If this has always been so for people, my take is that COVID-19 is about to change people and force them to see change from a more favorable, realistic lens. In fact, increasingly, both employers and employees are thinking about making of telecommuting the new normal of a work environment. And this has serious implications for the future of the workplace globally. Those workers who find working at home to be demotivating or distracting and would like to return to the traditional workplace to get their concentration back--even at the expense of some flexibility advantage from telecommuting--might find it to be e zero-sum game. We might not be able to restore what's been lost. Those people either want to get their normal workplace back or they deny, thereby deviate from the new normal and get locked out of work. But, it does not have to be like this. We live in a fast-paced world where adaptability is key to surviving and thriving. Darwin's survival theory is ever relevant today. We, humans, were born to survive turbulent and uncertain times like these through adaptability and reconditioning. And from experience, the human species has always known how to do that. We have survived barely survivable times like the two modern World Wars in the past century, for example. Sure enough, we will survive the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not even up to us, it is up to our very nature as human beings. And, surviving the inevitable future of work is all up to us even though it does not sound so natural. Still, we can set out to achieve that. We can draw from the same general internal survival capabilities and willingness to change and adapt them to the specific, unprecedented case of changing workplace nature that is empowered by COVID-19. Attitude is such an important determining factor in our enterprises that our success or failure in those enterprises deepened an attitude change toward telecommuting.
If we change our attitude toward this imminent virtual settlement of the workplace, the battle is half-won. If we are willing to, and actually, put in the effort to get comfortable with telecommuting, we end up being clear winners of the battle instigated by COVID-19.
Of course, some industrial works, by their very nature (e.g., still, oil, etc.) will still need to be performed on-sites. But, for the most part, since we're living in an information and technology age, the bulk of the work will be done online. That's what this age is all about. We have adapted to and survived all ages past with regard to the distinct natures and requirements of their workplaces. Capitalism's key concerns is profit maximization or exponential returns on investment. This is mostly done through cost-cutting strategies. It turns out that telecommuting is one major, and preferred, cost-cutting strategy, with obvious benefits for both parties of employers and employees.
My prediction, or more precisely my realization (since it is already happening), is that the traditional workplace will be displaced and hosted on the World Wide Web by and beyond COVID-19. Unlike the traditional workplace with limited room, the online space is infinite. This means that opportunities for people who've been displaced by the traditional workplace are endless.
Opportunities are there to grab, and only those who change their attitude to adapt to telecommuting are certain to thrive as workers in this changed world. COVID-19 has brought about such opportunities by forcing change on the nature of the workplace as we knew it. So, make sure to immune yourself from the disruption and make yourself a new work space by seizing these virtual opportunities. Telecommuting is the new normal.
