With the economic collapse globally stimulated by the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysia suffered substantially by reporting 32,000 foreclosed businesses and a spike in unemployed persons from 306,300 to 826,100, reported by the Department of Statistics Malaysia.
“Unlike earlier in 2020, where economic activity collapsed everywhere, all at once, regardless of whether there were a significant number of cases in a place, economic activity now is much more closely linked to how bad pandemic conditions are local,” a senior analyst at the Penn Wharton Budget Model, said on the Wharton Business Daily radio show.
As the vaccine rollout has begun and people have struggled to achieve normalcy in their lives, many companies have been thinking about what work will look like once WFH (work-from-home) instructions are withdrawn.
As businesses take stock of the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and the impacts on them, there will be some significant questions and planning required that will have consequences for the size and make-up of the workforce, the way that work is performed, and what work is done. Creating workplace flexibility and being able to drive efficiencies should be a key focus for all businesses moving forward.
With many companies moving toward digital teamwork and having efficient results, it seems redundant to completely remove WFH measures. Especially as many employees have enjoyed being at the behest of their families during the workday.
As a reference to Covid-19 and the return to work, there may not be the same number of employees returning to the office as there once were. We must keep in mind that the vaccine will protect oneself and not the people around him that are not yet vaccinated or those that have chosen not to be vaccinated.
This has led to the downsizing of many companies by terminating employee contracts and focusing on their main business operations. By outsourcing important business operations to other firms, allows companies to maintain workflow while insuring control of the health of their employees. With digital work environments and outsourcing operations such as marketing, many firms have found that they were able to keep a more efficient business model which turned a profit while reducing the costs of business operations substantially.
It will be difficult to revert to the norm and live life as it were before Covid-19. “We must all learn that every individual’s action has a ripple effect on how we manage Covid-19 in our community.
We have to adapt, adjust and accommodate the new norms in our lives,” as quoted by Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
“This is our social responsibility, and we need social discipline and social compliance to embrace and practise the SOPs,” he said, noting that the world would not be the same and people would need to adjust to new norms.
By rearranging the office space to make it more spacious and safer, regularly sanitizing common areas, and allowing only a limited number of people to come to the office at any one time to ensure safe social distancing. By managing the complexity of workforce logistics, we must be open to the reality that many people will lose their jobs which can be replaced easily by outsourcing or digitizing many of the business operations.
Using technology to manage day-to-day operations such as accounting software or outsourcing business operations such as ViSight Marketing as a Service (VMaaS) will ensure that you can minimize the risk of your employees while maintaining workflow with the integration of a digital environment.
We know many businesses are already planning for the new normal. We have been working with many of our clients about ensuring their transition is as smooth as possible. Please let us know how we can help you manage your risks as your business returns to ‘Covid-19 normal’ with our VMaaS Service or visit our website here for more information.
For any more of our articles spanning various topics, please follow us on our social media platforms or click here to check out our blog.