Working From Home, The Unhealthy Society

Working From Home in Today's World.

With working from home our new way of earning a living, we have had to adjust to the way we shop in supermarkets and our kid’s new teacher is the parent. Many would prefer to even shop for groceries online but where are the slots home delivery? Wedding photographers now taking pictures of their neighbourhood, DJs throwing parties from roofs their homes, care workers living away from home, this is not us. After our physiological needs (food, water) and safety needs (security, safety) are met, the next need we push for is the psychological needs. Our need to socialize is why some people just can’t stay home during this lockdown, defying the government directions to stay home. But a lot of us are adjusting well this new way.

 

Are Things Going To Go Back To The Old Ways?

It may be too early to start to talk about tomorrow. As of today, over 200,000 people worldwide has died and it is estimated that over 400,000 may be closer to the real figure. We do not know the true figure of deaths in China. I mean the most populated country in the world with more than one billion people and deaths of just over 20,000 people. Think about, this is where the COVID 19 originated for and where they prepared for it? Think about the number of cases that would occur before the lockdown. I leave that to you to think about the cover-up in china.

Experts have said we will have to live with the virus and it may never go away just like we have the flu. The key to having our old lives back to vaccine development. If we are still a year away from the global distribution of the vaccine, how do we stay away from the virus by living our lives? The answer is following the measures in place – wash your hands with soap for at least 20seconds, stay at least 2 meters away from the next person in public spaces, and we soon here of measures to wear face masks in public.

Across the world, companies have tried to set up their employees to be able to work remotely, those roles that can be done from home. Those jobs which can be done from home are now been done remotely from the business office and employees have had adjusted to having family members around them whilst working. We have also seen employees making those requests to work from home.

Working from Home Could be The New Way

Many employees now working from home this could just be the next type of job description. Before the pandemic, many job roles have been done remotely. In the IT industry, for example, a company could have its employees spread across the world and all working together through management software. This could now be a regular thing in other industries that can operate remotely. Why would it work? Most employees who said they would swap working remotely to working in a business premise said they can take a pay-cut to work from home. If an employee accepts a pay-cut or a prospective employee is willing to accept about 20% lower than they would normally accept if working in the business premise, that would translate to a lower overhead cost, a reduced overhead should increase profit all things being equal.

Most importantly, many businesses would have invested some funds into setting up employees to work remotely. IT costs in human resources, software procurement / upgrades and equipment might enough reasons to stick to the arrangement. 

Many firms are downsizing and finding new ways to do business without losing customers' confidence. In recent news, bank TSB plans to close down a third of there branches which will affect 900 jobs. We have seen many customer advisors working from home. Many office premises no longer needed and this will affect the manpower needed. 

Even the automobile industry is taken a turn as more local garages are registering themselves as offering mobile service on UKMD.

Another reason that could make this work is that it makes the job(s) attractive to current or prospective employees. Many will be looking at jobs they could work from home even after the pandemic is over and why wouldn’t they? You have been spoilt being around your family and the kids might be driving you nuts, you will take that above the hustling and bustling of the city transport.

Working from Home, the Unhealthy Lifestyle

Last night I sat on my armchair for over 5 hours munching on different snacks as I write my articles. A lot of the public who have kids and partners living with them don’t go to the gym. We are used to getting our daily exercise from running up and the stairs on the underground/rail station. Now that we work from home we get bored easily and the fridge has become our buddy. We may try the YouTube exercise every other day but we need to adjust the food intake. That also includes me lol…

With many employees opting to work from home, we may end up with an unhealthy society, and this where we must try to strike a balance. Take a short break from your laptop, work around the house, eat low carbs and eat healthily. Some employees may eventually switch back to the old ways but if you will continue to work from home, you will need to adjust accordingly too.

Are you bored? You should check out our post on TV shows you could unwind with. 

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