10 Ways Covid 19 has Brought Lasting Changes in The World (6 Mins Read)

The pandemic has permanently altered the paths of all types of businesses. The sudden outbreak of Covid 19 2 years back has forced many industries to change their strategies, practices and procedures. But, one of the biggest advantages of running a small company is the ability to embrace more easily and quickly adapt to the changes. For many of the companies, the short term plans or adjustments which were made due to the pandemic have become the realities of the future. In one of our earlier blogs we talked about Emerging Practices at Workplace after Covid 19. The pandemic have caused some permanent changes which are here to stay and will have long lasting impact on the businesses spread across different industries.

Let’s have a look at some of the permanent changes which have been brought about by Covid 19:

1.Many job losses and business closures:

Some of the businesses got pushed into almost a permanent closure due to the pandemic and many people lost their jobs as a result like travel, tourism, dining and entertainment industries. It would take a long time to overcome these losses and re establish these businesses but it would never be like it was before the pandemic as lot of things would have changed in the market by that time.

2.Telehealth facility available:

This is quite useful for the people who are confined to their houses like people affected by Covid. As the doctors can be now be reimbursed for telemedicine, so some of the appointments will still be handled remotely. It helps in saving the commute time to the doctor’s office and the hours spent waiting for the turn. Moreover, the doctors will now be able to attend the patients who are from the rural areas which lack the basic healthcare facilities. People don’t need to visit the hospitals now unless it is absolutely essential because there are already many sick people in which increases the risk of catching the infection.

3.Videocalls, Videoconferences and webinars:

Thanks to the advanced technology due to which the business continuity was maintained by the video conferencing tools, like Zoom, Webex, Skype, GoToMeeting, and Google Hangouts, which are here to stay permanently for their huge benefits. Just because of these tools people are now able to work from anywhere. Covid 19 broke the ice on these tools, which will keep going and improve with time.

4.More attendance in virtual conferences and meetings:

When the conferences and meetings became virtual, the attendance in the meetings started increasing by large numbers. Reasons were many like it eliminated the travel, dining and lodging costs which made the conferences more affordable, expanding the number of the audience. The participants can now pick and choose the sessions of interest for them, or watch the recordings of the sessions as per their convenience. Even when the in person conferences return, many conferences would still offer a hybrid between the in person and the virtual conferences to meet the requirement. As networking and exhibitor demos are still a challenge to be held in an online environment so those are likely to be continued as in person meetings.

5.Huge increase in online shopping and home delivery services:

Delivery services are in great demand post-covid like Amazon and many other big delivery partners are still doing a roaring business. These companies offer a lot of convenience, especially when people work from their homes. Moreover, this will also increase the demand for distributed warehouses and the local delivery services.

6.Decrease in demand of commercial real estate.

Need for office space has dropped as many employers have realized that they no longer need all their employees to come to the office for work. Many employees can work from anywhere instead of sitting in a cubicle in the office. Still, if an in person meeting is necessary at any point in time, it can be done by renting a conference room at a nearby hotel. Employees now demand the option for remote work, since working from home reduces the stress due to the daily commute and provides more time to spend with the members of the family.

7.Drop in demand of the residential real estate in big cities.

Due to the remote work most of the employees will no longer be required to live in the same city or even in the same state as of their companies. Many people will live in their homes with their families or closer to their families in a much better environment in their home towns. This will increase the need for better network and broadband connectivity, especially in the rural or remote areas.

8.Online education will continue:

Every school and college now has the e-learning infra structure which are excellent for the students. Although the online learning does not provide a complete college like experience, since you learn as much more by interacting with your peers as you do while sitting in the classroom listening only to the teacher. Yet, it is quite a good experience for people, especially for continuing their education and exploring their academic interests. Although, many colleges have offered distance learning for decades due to the profits, yet the traditional colleges have been slow to embrace it till now, but will now look at the online education as an opportunity to expand their business.

9.Home meals:

As more and more people are now working from their homes so the business of people supplying meals to them have increased a lot. Interest in cooking and baking has grown because of the great demand during the pandemic. It will be a good business to supply the home meal kits, such as meal kits for people with special dietary requirements. Consequently, the demand for cooking utensils, cookware, bakeware and small appliances will also continue to grow.

10.Home videos or movie in theatres: 

With high resolution and giant TV sets and video streaming services available now, the demand for the big screen will not fully recover because many movie-goers now prefer to watch the new releases at home. Still, movie theaters would stay the preferred choice for dates and the popcorn etc. There might be some consolidation in the live streaming and on demand industry, given that there are too many services now such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube TV, which will continue to flourish.

SUMMARY:

The key challenge in the post pandemic world is in dealing with the ongoing divide between the haves and have nots. The haves benefit from the economic recovery and the have nots don’t. The income inequality continues to widen more and more. There are people have ignored this phenomenon while there are others who have exploited it and started doing good business. Yet, nobody has really addressed the needs of the disadvantaged. We should always keep the under privileged people in mind while making all these permanent changes so that it’s a win-win situation for all.

Read more about : 9 Benefits of Working as a Professional Before Doing Your Own Start Up