By now I have been through three weeks of home office and one week of vacation since the Social Distancing situation started. Clearly some things have changed and I wonder as many people do, at this time, if things will get back to what they used to be or if we all are going to define anew what “normal” is.
Hopefully, we are able by now to see that there are some advantages when working from home – as this is possible, of course, since many jobs are not suitable to this. But as long as someone is doing an office related job and is using a computer, this is largely applicable. To be frankly, many of us have experienced before that when contacting an insurance or the support of a company, the person at the end of the line stated that they were doing home office and “please be patient” meanwhile he or she was looking through the records.
There are mixed feelings about this subject. After all, if you are used to getting up in the morning and go to work, it’s a little irritating if you are put in a new situation where you have to develop some habits first.
Man is a creature of habits and propensities
Thorstein Veblen
The more important thing is though, which businesses will make it through this dry period, which ones will have to close permanently?
If you look for example at retailers, most of which had to close their stores, the ones that cannot offer a replacement of their in-store services are suffering. It doesn’t have to be online shops. Some stores that I have seen while taking a walk are displaying posters that state that orders by email are welcome and that they deliver at home.
Delivery services are in demand and if this situation continues, it will become an opportunity for people who love going out. By delivering goods they can also support small and big stores – it’s a win-win situation.
What about you, are you also affected by the current Stay-at-Home situation?