The new normal

REMOTE WORK AND REMOTE LEARNING HAVE LONG BEEN BUZZWORDS, BUT COVID-19 IS SHAPING UP TO BE THE CATALYST THAT WILL TRIGGER A RAPID PARADIGM SHIFT AND ACCELERATE CHANGES IN HOW PEOPLE WORK AND LEARN.

AS CORONAVIRUS CASES have surged, so have the number of companies asking their employees to work from home as well as the number of universities asking students to shift to remote learning. With more than 90% of the global population affected by some sort of lockdown measures, these methods are being widely used as a safeguard against the possibility of furlough, complete job loss, and business closure.

From Turkey to the US, India to Australia, an increasing number of companies around the globe are rolling out mandatory remote work structures to keep businesses running and help employees follow social distancing guidelines.

In such demanding times, the new normal is helping many adjust to extraordinary child care demands.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the education sector has also been wide-ranging. The crisis, together with the necessity of the use of edtech for remote learning, is giving birth to a new norm for education systems—one where it is possible to bring education to the student anytime, anywhere.

In all fairness, this shift is a logical precaution for educational institutions as well as many companies that employ people in the digital economy. And it is a shift that many felt was around the corner. Even before COVID-19, there was already high growth in distance learning and remote working. For example, global edtech investments hit USD18.66 billion in 2019. According to data from the same year, the overall market for online education is projected to reach USD350 Billion by 2025, but that figure will most likely need to be recalculated given the significant surge in the usage of online learning software, video conferencing tools, language apps, virtual tutoring, and the likes. For example, Zoom, a video conferencing app that allows users to talk to up to 99 other people simultaneously, has emerged at the top of the pile. Year to date, Zoom Video Communication’s share price has more than tripled, from

USD68 a share in January to just under USD260 a share in June 2020.

Notably, with uncertainty over how long the virus will linger, stakeholders are discussing and debating the benefits and pitfalls of this transition to digital. While it is an easy decision for companies that had structured themselves accordingly in the years preceding the pandemic, it is a complicated one for others, especially when one considers the conflicting results in research on the effects of remote working and learning on productivity.

For comparison, while a survey published in the Harvard Business Review found that remote employees are more likely to be disengaged and quit their jobs than those on site, a 2015 Stanford study that tested the effects of telework on productivity that the practice improved productivity by 13%.

Perhaps, the solution lies somewhere in the middle. A 2017 study by Gallup, a US-based analytics and advisory company, found that in a five-day workweek, working remotely for two to three days is the most productive because it gives the employee two to three days of meetings, collaboration, and interaction, with the opportunity to just focus on the work during the rest of the week.

Then, there are studies and analysis that reveal a positive relationship between working from home and higher participation in non-formal learning. According to the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, COVID-19 has renewed people’s interest in online learning. In recent years, there has been a clear increase in the percentage of remote workers participating in courses, seminars, and conferences in fields such as social sciences, business and law, education, and ICT, mostly for job-related purposes.

Although some businesses are arguing that remote work breaks the social bonds that are necessary to productive teamwork, the majority seems to side with the government, which believes that it is a great way to bring new types of workers into the mix, such as stay-at-home parents and people living in remote and rural areas, and save millions in real estate and transportation costs.

Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a grand trial for remote working and learning, providing an opportunity to essentially restructure organizations. With more and more companies using technology to make remote life feel more like on-site collaboration, the world is on the brink of shaping a future that might have been inevitable, with or without a global health crisis.