My previous blogpost explored the impact of Coronavirus on the world of work, and shared some tips for job seekers to try and get back into work, despite the current difficulties.
Even those of us who are still working may have noticed changes. If you are doing an office job, then you might be working from home; shifts in retail, logistics and warehousing may have been affected by health and safety requirements; anyone working in education will have been overwhelmed with the need to support students, a rapid shift to online delivery, and planning for next year.
One of the most interesting conversations has been whether we will see longer-term changes in the way in which we work. This article on the Penguin blog suggests that alternative ways of working may become more desirable – the shift to home working in many professions arguably lends itself well to more flexible working patterns (and of course, you will be aware of the need to be flexible if you are home-schooling or have caring responsibilities).
Just as intriguing to me is the idea that we could see a change to our working patterns; the Penguin blog mentions the idea of a four-day week, and anyone who listens to BBC Radio 1 or BBC local radio will know that they moved to fewer shows, with presenters on rotation. Could this be a model for the future – perhaps more jobs could be created, but the pay-off is that we all work fewer hours?
To me, this seems desirable, but as with anything it would come at a cost – human beings are the biggest single cost to any organisation, and these different working patterns would be complicated to implement in many workplaces.
What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts, feel free to share with me via email.
Karuna CV 