The Wider Implications of COVID-19: the Changing Nature of Work

“In every crisis we are given an opportunity to evaluate our habitual tendencies” (Welch, 2020).

The virus has not only changed the way we view health policy, but also our way of living and working. It seems no overstatement to say that the world will be a fundamentally different place after COVID-19. This post will explore how the post-COVID-19 world may differ from the one before it.

Impact 1: Re-defining relationships

Prior to COVID-19, bringing family, pets, or domestic life into a professional context seemed somewhat inappropriate. The pandemic changed this dynamic with professionals jumping on video calls from make shift offices in living rooms, studies, and bedrooms. This made the personal world an inescapable aspect of business interactions.

As a result, the pandemic has made us all a bit more human. No longer do we expect colleagues to churn out results at a consistent rate regardless of home circumstances, family health and so on. The business sphere may have become just a little bit less cold, robotic, and corporate. There is something incredibly positive about that. In an increasingly digital and technology driven world, human connections are increasingly more important.

Impact 2: Changing the status quo

That age-old saying of “that’s how we’ve always done it” has never been more redundant.

If the population has had to adapt fast due to the virus, business has had to adapt twice as fast so as to ensure that people have access to the services required to acclimatise to the ‘new normal’. Businesses have rapidly adopted fundamental changes to work practices like remote working, video conferencing, and the mode of client service delivery.  Many of these changes will be retained after the virus abates.

Impact 3: Finding meaning in work

Due to COVID-19, the world literally stopped – cars were stripped from the road, planes from the air, and the hustle and bustle of voices from the street. Especially at the start of the first lockdown in March 2020, the lack of human activity was striking.

As businesses resume operations and life begins to return, the simple freedom to return to work, and thereby contribute to society, makes what once seemed so mundane now seem almost miraculous. The halt to life during the pandemic means that the ability to work has taken on a special significance.

Impact 4: Bringing out the best in people

In addition to the selfless medical workers who have put their lives on the line to save others, COVID-19 has brought about a wave of kindness from the population, in the form of fundraising efforts, doing shopping for the sick and elderly, and voluntary door-to-door services. Such widespread selflessness may well be mirrored in the post-COVID work place through a move away from the ‘silo mentality’ towards a greater frequency of people stepping outside their formal roles to help others or support a colleague.

Final thoughts

It is clear that the post-COVID-19 world will, in many senses, be a fundamentally different one. The above being just four of the many instances of how the world may change. There are, of course, many others ways that the business world is likely to change from a decrease in airmiles due to the increasing convenience and cost-efficacy of virtual communication to an increased focus on mental wellbeing and on systemic inequalities in society that the pandemic has brought to light.

While the full effects of the pandemic are yet to be seen, with many of the world’s population still to be vaccinated and the virus still circulating, one thing that is clearly visible, however, is that there will be changes to fundamental aspects of the way we live and work, effecting the way we do business and conduct ourselves in the professional world.

Sukhi R. is a graduate from Warwick Law School currently studying an MSc in Business with Consulting at Warwick Business School. She has a keen interest in the business psychology of consulting and plans to enter the industry in the near future.

Image: Pexels

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