The global pandemic in which we currently find ourselves is unprecedented in modern times. Not since the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 has the world seen the widespread outbreak of such a dangerous illness. It goes without saying that the world of today is vastly different than it was 100 years ago. As Covid-19 sweeps across the globe, citizens of countries around the world are being asked to work from home in record numbers.

What short- and long-term impacts is this mass shift to remote work having on our society and on our economy?

Here are 5 important ways that coronavirus, stay-at-home orders, and quarantines are affecting remote work in 2020.

1. Video communication becomes even more vital to get business done and stay in touch.

Zoom, the video communication platform used by offices and families across the United States, has become a primary means of communication for many. Although the stock market has been incredibly volatile during this time, Zoom stock is up more than 40 percent since January, and Slack, a similar service used for office communication, is up 16 percent.

The stability and growth of these services shows that people will continue to rely on them for remote work even after the pandemic passes.

2. Outsourcing companies are finding new ways to get work done in a lockdown.

India has long been a major player in the outsourcing vital businesses like medical transcription, coding, and customer service. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 3-week shutdown on Tuesday night to slow the spread of the coronavirus, many offshore companies have been looking for ways to continue providing these vital service via remote work. This is creating the opportunity for unique and creative solutions to the problem that will set a precedent for how remote work is done in the future.

The Indian government is working hard to strengthen the existing infrastructure so that vital industries can continue their work, and the Chinese company Huawei is offering their own technology solutions to help combat the spread of the virus among vulnerable populations.

3. A change in attitudes towards the power and importance of remote working.

Recent polling by the Washington Post shows that Americans are getting used to the idea of staying home as much as possible. While the tech industry has been capitalizing on the benefits of remote work and virtual employees for more than a decade, many other industries still hold more conservative views towards working from home.

The necessity of working at home during the coronavirus pandemic will provide the first opportunity for many offices and industries to test their remote working capabilities. In many instances, this will show how useful and efficient working remotely can be, and further illustrate the viability of virtual employees and virtual teams, thus potentially transforming the way many industries do business.

4. Education is going digital.

Online learning has been around for decades, helping students and teachers alike participate in the vital service of education from anywhere, any time. In New York City, one of the hardest hit epicenters of the pandemic in the United States, educators are attempting to reach over one million students with remote learning.

Although the official response has been met with mixed results, the pandemic is providing a unique opportunity to test the capacity of the educational system to handle so much remote work, including the teachers who need to work from home. This crisis is showing what needs to be done to improve remote working capabilities and will hopefully spur further action and create new industries and opportunities for remote work and learning around the world. 

5. Internet service providers are building their capacity to serve more customers.

As tens of thousands of employees begin working from home in the United States, and even more abroad, servers will be stretched to their limits. In response to this growing demand, many service providers are growing their capacity to host virtual private networks for virtual teams, especially for outsourcing companies who need to communicate with their offshore affiliates.

The coronavirus pandemic will not last forever, but the steps that these companies are taking to increase their capacity will last far longer, thus making it possible to expand remote working opportunities for years to come.

HOW ARE WE PRACTICING REMOTE WORKING AT HOME?

In an uncertain and constantly changing world, BorderlessMind is here to help. BorderlessMind has implemented all important measures to keep our team safe while helping them to be as productive as ever. We have also configured personal computing devices of all our employees working from home to ensure timely deliveries of our clients.

So, hire the best talent from BorderlessMind since we are still available 24/7 for all business needs of offshoring services such as application development, software maintenance, cloud computing, and much more.

Together, we can do it!