It’s been more than two years since the pandemic hit and our lifestyle has begun changing in more ways than one. That being said, experts say that these changes will not be just temporary; the changes may easily apply in the long term, if not forever.
Some changes are for the good, and others may be a slight inconvenience, depending on your job. However, humanity as a race can easily adapt, and some of the changes are more likely to stay. Here is how the pandemic changed the way we work so far, and how it can affect us in the future.
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1. We Become More Technologically-savvy
With the pandemic pushing us more and more into online work, we are all but forced into becoming technologically savvy. Whether you are an employer or an employee, you have to develop new experiences and skills as a way to do your job or sell your product.
For instance, with shops closed and people being unable to test their products, Estee Lauder added a virtual try-on feature to their website. The company would need to learn how to implement the technology, whereas the consumers would need to learn how to use it. This technology will likely be used in the future as well, decreasing in-store demand.
2. Hybrid Working Environments
In the past, everything was rather simple: you got the job, you spent your working hours at work, and then you went home. Even if technically, the job could have been easily done from home, we still had our system of working at the office. Remote days were sometimes given but were rather limited.
Now, many companies are shifting to a hybrid working style, where employees can either work online or at the office – depending on how they prefer it. Virtual activities are used instead of physical ones, and programs such as Skype or Zoom have become an essential part of the working environment.
Employers are also finding this convenient, as the costs to power the entire office building would be lower. This can potentially help them save money in the long run.
3. Our Personal and Professional Lives Overlap
A potentially negative change could also not be avoided. Before, we were efficiently able to keep our professional lives separate from our personal lives, simply because we were working only from an office. We clocked out and we were done.
The problem is that when we work from home, we cannot separate our personal lives from our daily lives. We are either distracted by the incidents in our homes, or we become more relaxed by the flexible schedule – therefore dragging our work time into our personal time.
4. We Put More Focus on Our Mental Health
During the pandemic, more and more people were struggling with mental health problems. Employers noticed this, and they started to find ways to help their employees cope with their problems and take care of their mental health. This could be done in a variety of ways, such as through mental health apps or online counseling sessions.
The fact that increasingly more people are struggling with mental health problems is by no means a good thing – but it showed employers how important it is to take care of the mental stability of their clients. Flexible schedules and more freedom were given, and employers are now encouraging their people to go to their appointed mental health experts. This trend will likely remain even after the pandemic is declared closed.
5. We Are Less Exposed to Environmental Danger
Now that the pandemic has shifted us into remote work, we no longer face that many environmental dangers. We are less prone to accidentally slip and fall on the office floors, and we are less exposed to traffic accidents as well.
The accident rate in Seattle, for instance, has significantly dropped because of the pandemic. Fewer people required a Seattle personal injury attorney, as the reduced contact and outdoor time decreased the chances of being injured by someone else.
The only way that this could negatively affect you is if you had to take care of your own safety. If you got injured in your own home office, you would have no one else to blame but yourself – and therefore, you could not sue for personal injury.
The Bottom Line
We may have thought the changes from the pandemic were temporary – but if we look at the trends, some of these changes are here to stay. We also adapted, so many people find it more convenient to stick with the new routine than uprooting and going back to the old one.
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