Paper Example on Adapting to Working from Home in a Post-COVID World

Introduction

Even as the global pandemic continues to cause devastating effects on the economy, millions have shifted to working from home as offices, and other places of work remain closed due to social distancing guidelines issued by the WHO to control the spread of COVID-19. Many workers and students have welcomed the idea of working and studying online to keep things moving forward.

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There will likely be an extension of workplace shutdowns, and so it is easier to work from home as it needs only the internet and telephone line. This could save $1.4 billion to $1.9 billion yearly, where $1.27 billion is from travel time, and cost avoided as predicated by Consultancy Access Economics.

Research has shown many benefits of working from home with increased productivity, greater job satisfaction and turnover, increased commitment, and also stress reduction associated with work. Working from home has been successful as regular communication through video conferencing and emails have ensured work is well coordinated even as employees interact on a social and professional level.

Millions have shifted positively to working from home as it offers additional benefits, with many employees having been able to find a balance between work and home life, ensuring business continuity. Mary Woods, for example, has not had time with her children previously due to a strenuous work schedule that involved traveling to and from work.

“I now can enjoy ample time with my children even as I work. It’s just to get my work done on schedule and there I am, sharing meal times and other activities with them. They love it.” Mrs Woods said.

Asked on whether she would prefer to continue working from home, she continued, “why not? It saves on time, energy and cost which one can then channel to their family. Lately, the bond between my children and I has grown tremendously. I would definitely be glad to continue working from home.”

Research also shows that some employees prefer working from home even if it means no salary increases due to its autonomy that allows them to manage their time and work without supervision. Organizations also benefit as they can access a wide pool of talents from home-based workers, which increases productivity and revenues.

Those earlier sentiments are further shared by Ms. Britney Stevens, who has opted to work online after the pandemic caused a job cut at their workplace. Ms. Britney is quick to express how working from home has opened her eyes to opportunities that have made her discover her hidden talents and can now work during her free time with no supervision.

“I did not realise I could make such a good writer” Ms Britney said smiling. Losing her job due to slow business has given her an opportunity to reinvent herself.

The global pandemic that has no end in sight has led to shifts that may stay here even when normalcy finally returns.

Case study: Telstra Corporation Limited

Coronavirus fears prompt Telstra to keep office staff at home for the rest of the month 'at a minimum.'

Telstra is a telecommunications company in Australia that is involved in building and operating telecommunications networks and market voice, providing internet, mobile, and pay-TV, among others. In March, this year announced a work from home policy for the majority of its workers, excluding call center workers and those that were in other essential services (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2020).

The company took this decision even when there were no cases of COVID-19 within its team and also canceled planned events and travels that were non-essential. Events canceled included the Telstra Business Women's Awards, which is an annual event by the company. In a statement issued by Telstra's group executive for transformation and people, Alexandra Badenoch said the measures would "remain in place until the end of March at a minimum."

She also added that "with global events now unfolding very quickly, we've decided to move to full work from home arrangements for Australian-based office staff…”. The retail stores were to remain open, and call center staff remained unaffected.

The evolving situation caused by the pandemic requires decisive action and flexibility in operation were functions that could be carried out remotely, which are considered essential only remained. In this case, it included store and field teams, call centers, among other functions. Procedures and safeguards have been put in place where necessary.

The company has also introduced a policy which gives permanent, fixed-term and casual team members a right to extra paid leave up to 14 days, in case they need to take time off work due to COVID-19.

The company has been actively involved in the provision of information concerning COVID-19 on its social media platform as well as through its app and has offered additional support for its customers by giving extra data, wavering late payment fees, unlimited standard phone calls for pensioners and flexible payment options for those facing difficulty paying bills. The late payment period runs from 19 March 2020 to 30 June 2020.

Support for health workers through their app includes billing, faulting, and other inquiries as health workers played a vital role in the society in caring and treatment of patients in this pandemic.

The internet provided by the corporation is 5G, is fast and reliable, making working from home comfortable as well as video conferencing for meetings, online studying, homeschooling as well as providing entertainment for kids during this time before schools resume operation.

The company has also ensured there is cybersecurity to prevent phishing activities and hacking in their network and have provided relevant information on how to surf safely, to secure business from digital trespassers and how to protect personal and banking information on the online platform which gives additional knowledge and skills to the customers.

Innovation and technology are high with devices that are hottest and latest to make life fun and better and networking easier and faster through smartphones, tablets, gaming and entertainment devices, Telstra tough max3, and other high-tech devices.

Other telecommunication companies working remotely

Exposure of some of their employees and fear of infection coupled with safeguarding employee health and safety at work has seen many companies and industries close up and have their employees working from home. This has not spared the telecommunication industry, which had to close up most of their retail stores keeping only essential staff at work. Some of these telecommunications companies include Vodafone, Cisco, ViacomCBS, and JC Decaux, just to mention but a few.

"As a precautionary measure, JC Decaux's York Street office will be closed until the results of the test come back. The business is still operating, with staff working remotely." The company said.

In another incident, Viacom CBS Company also said, "The safety and wellbeing of staff is the company's number one priority. Therefore, as a precaution, ViacomCBS has temporarily closed its Darlinghurst office and instructed all employees to work remotely until further information is available".

The shift to working from home is one way to stop the spread of COVID-19, which is practical and logical and provides protection, builds morale, and creates peace of mind for the workers. With the lockdown in most areas, parents also get the opportunity to take care of their children as schools and daycare centers remain closed.

Conclusion

As millions embrace shifting to working from home, companies, especially in telecommunication, are coming up with more, better, and more efficient ways and devices to get work done remotely. The use of social media platforms has enabled information to be shared across staff, customers, and globally which has been useful in passing knowledge on COVID-19 disease worldwide, and countries have collaborated to stop its further spread. Social distancing, which is among the guidelines in curbing the pandemic, has been affected by working from home as employees can operate from their homes comfortably and have no worries about coming close to others or being at risk of infection. The impact of working at home has both short-term and long-term effects, which will last even after normalcy returns. In the short-term, the economy has been sustained as work continues, and people can still earn a living. Long-term effects may be a permanent shift by some sectors to work from home as the benefits are enormous.

References

Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (2020, 14 March). Coronavirus fears prompt Telstra to keep office staff at home for rest of month 'at a minimum' - ABC News. ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-14/telstra-tells-employees-to-work-from-home-over-coronavirus/12056332