Future Of The 9 To 5

Since the beginning of the pendamic, there has been a major shift in how business is conducted at the workplace, the closure of offices, factories and any major place of gathering to stop the spread of the coronavirus has led to most people turning online to find anything they require that might be essential for them to go through the quarantine which has led to a surge in online shopping. The Pandemic has caused over 4M deaths worldwide and with a total of 185M reported cases as of now, most people have been staying at home playing their part to reduce any further cases.

As people were becoming invested in finding new hobbies to pass this time of leisure, the same proved to be of great struggle for the daily wagers and small businesses, as there income almost came to a halt due to the complete lockdown in most of the countries, leaving them with no other choice but to immigrate their businesses online along with other people who were just starting to try their luck in the online world or the one’s who wanted to start a small business as a side hustle , as one can predict by analyzing the simple theory of supply and demand, this proved to be a great decision for most of the businessess, even life changing for some raising the global retail trade of e-commerce from 14% in 2019 to about 17% in 2020. 

Most of us have shopped online atleast once, although in this day and age it is hard to say that someone might not have a know how of the online world and how it operates, rules for conducting business online are quite similar to those of the physical, a simple starters course of digital marketing or a youtube search for the same can get you going.

Going remote can be very benficial for everyone including small businesses and big companies. It is cost efficient as the cost for maintaining a physical workplace can prove to be a challenge for a corporate if things ever go south. Secondly, you are never late for work and the cost of commute is greatly reduced, which might help you save more, Thirdly and most importantly it gives the staff freedom to work in a time slot in which they feel comfortable, and can take short breaks without any pressure, more autonomy and greater flexibility means less staff turnover and a job better done. And the work/life balance ensures a healthy family relationship which might be a sense of achievement for some. According to a survey 72% employers say that employees have a greater chance of sticking around if they have an option of remote work. As far as the communication is concerned, online communication platforms such as MS Teams and Zoom meetings have provided access to instant communication among the staff members be it a small meeting or a group presentation.

Analyzing the whole covid situation which led to this micro-revolution of online relocation and increase in the trend of remote work, I think we can safely conclude that it has greatly impacted the strongly ingrained 9 to 5 culture which was first made mainstream in the 1800s by the American labor unions, although things are already changing with the new generation renouncing these shackles of the clock, creating opportunities for themselves and striving to be the masters of their own will.