Ever since its onset last December, the coronavirus has soon gained momentum to affect all walks of life within months, taking a heavy toll on all industries and sectors worldwide. Does your company happen to be in the high-risk sector? Is your business struggling amid huge talent loss and office bills that still need to be paid? Regardless of sector or size, the covid-19 influence must have been felt everywhere around you.
The Impact of Covid-19
As suggested by the International Labour Organization, the covid-19 is arguably the greatest crisis faced by human beings ever since WWII. The world trade volume has been estimated to fall by 11%, and the oil price down by 42%. An estimated 1.5 billion children have been denied physical access to school. Industries like retail, manufacturing,education as well as shipments have taken the brunt.
Image credit: economics.rabobank.com
The Lockdown Generation
More than that, as the Organization reveals, the Coronavirus outbreak has also cut down global working hours by 10.7% in the first quarter of 2020. 1 of 6 young people globally has stopped working. 94% of the global workforce is now under certain containment owing to government lockdown measures. The coronavirus outbreak is worryingly turning young workers into the “Lockdown Generation”.
Image credit: GGTV
With so many young people unable to work in the office, the first and most important question for businesses is: how to build up enough immunity to get through this difficult time?
The Workstyle Reform
True, governments have acted fast by initiating the workstyle reform, pushing businesses to adapt towards telecommuting against covid-19 impact, but are we fully ready to go virtual and remote? In another word, what it takes for us to benefit from telecommuting? In consideration of that, we’ve compiled a list of remote tools for businesses to go remote, covering areas from information security, customer support, project management, collaboration to individual mental health enhancement. Take a quick look!
Image credit: cocofax.com
Needless to say, telecommuting is likely to continue for a longer term, even after the coronavirus pandemic. As research from FlexJobs and Global Workplace Analytics (GWA) shows, there has been an increase of 159% in remote work in the U.S.A since from 2005 to 2017. Furthermore, a study of 1001 by Amerisleep showed remote workers were 57% more likely than the average American to be satisfied with their jobs.
Image credit: pairin.com
The pandemic is likely to accelerate this workstyle transformation as people are focusing a lot more on work-life balance than ever before. An FlexJobs survey shows 84% of working parents in America identify work flexibility as the single most important factor in a job.
Going virtual is especially beneficial to companies in the tech industry, saving office budget on renting office space as well as costs in retaining employees. Businesses need to weigh the pros and cons of telecommuting before going virtual though.

Data security usually comes as a big concern in this process. It would be recommended to adopt a fax cover sheet if you are thinking about faxing documents online especially for industries like medicine, health care and insurance, as well as government departments. Always make sure you have a reliable tele-workforce, and employ the right online working tools!