When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March, millions of workers in the world switched from working in a central office location to working from home.
As the year 2019 came to a close, it looks like more people prefer working full-time from home.
With scientists predicting that COVID is here to stay for longer, many organizations have to adapt and change their work strategies to accommodate the new normal.
COVID-19 has had profound implications for businesses across the world, and more so, for Africa’s and the Middle East’s economy.
Across the world, governments’ response to the COVID pandemic was to introduce protectionist measures like grounding planes and border closures, greatly disrupting supply chains which in turn affected distribution of goods.
The COVID pandemic has contributed to what economists now term as the biggest economic recessions in recent times. But there is good news. E-commerce and remote interactions have saved the day as more and more organizations adapt to the new norm.
At Maser, which Is UAE-based Consumer Electronics Brand, we have witnessed strong demand for smart TVs from retail consumers under lockdowns, as people at home keep streaming content from digital platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.
This means that our customers still require our products even during lockdowns; so we have to find a way to engage with the workers who are home in order to satisfy customer demands.
Working from home has helped us to finetune our strategy, evaluate our performance and develop a roadmap for the future.
Our top concern has been the well-being of our employees and supporting our customers in meeting their demands.
For this reason, we have been keen on growing our e-commerce platform to ensure that customers and our staff can interact safely without any health concerns.
As the lockdowns lift, there is a forecast for huge spikes in demand as supply lines open up to meet these demands.
While there are industries that require the physical presence of employees, it is important to prioritize their safety by providing protective gear in the workplace.
At Maser, we have reduced the number of workers that physically interact in our warehouses by introducing more rotational work routines to ensure that there are minimum interactions as possible.
Let’s embrace the new way of working and empower employees to work from home as much as possible.
If working from home will save many from losing their jobs and the economy moving, then we have no choice but to adapt.
As many scientists predict, there might not be a “life after the pandemic” therefore, let us embrace the various technologies at our disposal to adapt in order to accommodate workers that are working from home while meeting customer demand.
Mr. Prateek Suri is the founder and CEO of UAE-based Consumer Electronics brand Maser.
