WORKING FROM HOME
While 2020 was considered the year of “working from home”, for many people it was the year of staying home and not working.
A study by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics found only 29% of jobs in the US could be completed from home, while in Thailand (a far less digitised and service-based economy) the percentage was likely far lower.
Even among office workers in Bangkok, most companies were not ready to send their workers home as basic operations such as invoicing were not yet able to be done online.
Some firms made their staff come in to the office as there was no legal mandate preventing them from doing so.
Larger firms such as Unilever Thailand and True Digital were able to allow near 100% of employees to work from home early on in the pandemic, but many smaller and less digitally savvy firms required workers to come in and risk contracting the virus.
While Unilever did not send its factory workers home, it was able to shift all front-line sales personnel to online channels to limit viral exposure and improve the fast-moving consumer goods firm’s e-commerce presence.
Thai startups such as Eko were able to capitalise on the rise of work from home with its “work anywhere” employee communication application.
The company saw 200% year-on-year sales growth in the first half of 2020 as companies looked for solutions to connect employees from home.
Workers in general like the shift to working from home. A study of industry professionals by Robert Walters Thailand found 75% of workers want more work-from-home opportunities, and only 25% wanted to return to full-time work at the office.
There is still much debate as to whether the work-fromhome trend will continue for jobs that allow it, but Bangkok government sees the concept as a way to cut down on PM2.5 air pollution.
In December police in the city urged businesses to allow employees to work from home once a week to cut down on transport pollution, a policy that may regain popularity with the recent spike in Covid-19 infections.