COVID-19: The Upsurge In Remote Work

It is no longer a new story that the Coronavirus pandemic has given people a different approach to life and work. One of such approach to work is that of remote work – a working style that allows professionals to work outside of a traditional working environment. The truth is that remote work is a trend that has been ticking up of recent, and with the pandemic that has hit the world, it might be fast-tracked making it more universally accepted and prominent. With regards to the increase in coronavirus cases all over the world, people are asking for contingency plans from their employers especially in cases where their offices have to be shut down. One of such contingency plans is working from home.
Countries all over the world are enforcing lockdown either partially or totally as a means to curb the spread of the virus. As a result, some industries are crippled while some are seeing unprecedented increase in gains, especially those that have online channels and/or workforce. These include online shopping malls, news media and agencies, telecommunication industries, online schools, tech businesses, etc. More so, a lot of people are tilting towards remote jobs especially if they work in companies that require close contact with others while performing their tasks and/or expose workers to the virus. People opt for these jobs either in a bid to avoid infection, ease boredom or earn extra cash. Some organizations are also left with no other choice than to shut down for the meantime or develop online and remote channels; for instance, some schools have opted for online classes, and most organizations now arrange for online meetings instead of making use of boardrooms.
In USA, as of 2017, more Americans work from home than commute via mass transit and in 2018, about 23.7% of the US workforce worked some hours from home. Now, with the almost mandatory transition to remote work, millions of Americans are moving their work spaces to their homes as states asks employers to offer flexible work arrangement. In other countries like China, companies have altered how and where they do businesses. In Africa, remote work is only just catching on and even used to be more of a talk than action. But the spike in cases of the virus has forced some organizations to effect different remote work options. As is the case in virtually every country of the world, companies in Nigeria like Jumia, Iroko TV, PiggyVest, etc have already adopted it. Also, some schools are moving on to online classes, online jobs are receiving greater acceptance and applications and most social and religious gatherings are either drastically reduced or organized online.
Worthy of note is the fact that if the pandemic ends soon enough, most workers will revert to how they worked before, but if it continues for a while, it can cause stronger and longer-term shift to remote work. Despite all these, remote work seems like it has come to stay, the pandemic notwithstanding. Although, the global pandemic may lead to a faster transition to remote work than previously expected.