Covid19: Gains and Lessons.

It is one of the few times that Humanity worked together, showing solidarity in order to face a mutual enemy: An invisible threat, a virus! A virus that created a pandemic, hitting all countries, impacting billions of people and leaving millions dead. The impact resulted in either to be locked at home or the loss of employment. Thousands of articles have been published since the start; there is no point in adding an additional one without stating what already was said. 

BUT, was there any positive impact of this tragic situation for the days that followed? 

For sure, there were countless lessons from this pandemic period: From appreciating a simple walk in the countryside to enjoying a Christmas dinner with your loved ones. In this article, I would like to focus only on some working facts that changed during this period and perhaps will stay for the coming years.

 Teleworking was present long before covid19 appeared, but the importance of protecting each other led to an exponential increase of its usage. Many companies introduced teleworking for their employees even if they previously didn't know that it was feasible, by the nature of their work. Thus, work flexibility is gain no 1.

Teleworking revealed an important advantage: No (big) physical working space is required in order for an employee to work efficiently. So working from anywhere is possible and no physical space is required, leading to cost reduction for the companies, gain no 2.

 As the daily on-site presence of employees is not required, mobility is impacted, leading to reduced traffic jams, therefore pollution is reduced and this will improve air quality which is No 1 reason of respiratory issues, impacting health systems performance, giving gain no 3.

 If no need for daily on site presence, Real Estate prices (both commercial and residential) will be affected as well, revealing their Fair Value instead of the current high Market Prices - and that's gain no 4. Companies will need smaller spaces and employees will have the option of living either anywhere (100% remote work) or away from city centers so as to be “close to work”.

For sure there are many more gains to mention (science, vaccines, AI…), but for the moment I will stop here as the pandemic is still here and we have to wait its end.

Only time will tell if the above will remain as a constant going forward, but for sure this pandemic changed all of us forever and I hope that we all took our lessons of appreciating simple things in life, communicating better with people we love and support anyone in need!

Gerasimos

#staysafe #covid19 #wewillwin