Description: Discover the role of technology during the current coronavirus outbreak and learn how major tech companies cope with the pandemic! Find critical ideas about the latest home technology in this brief guide.
According to Wikipedia, coronaviruses are a group of related viruses that cause diseases in humans and can be transmitted from one person to another. COVID-19 is the strain that impacted the whole world in the last month, causing respiratory tract infections that could go from mild to malignant. This disease can affect the productivity and efficiency of people who go to work daily.
Currently, this is a global pandemic that has hit the world badly. Over 180 countries around the globe are fighting the coronavirus with thousands and thousands of cases and over ten thousand deaths already. It has affected the modern workforce in ways that were never imagined.
In the current economic scenario, finding a vaccine has become a high stakes treasure that most companies are rallying to. Today, most countries are on lockdown to stop the spread of the virus. This action has rendered hundreds of people jobless, and those who still have their jobs are advised to work from home. Now, this is a severe global crisis, but there is an advantage for technology.
The role of technology during times like that cannot be overemphasized. This brings us to the objective of this article – coronavirus, a catalyst for work-from-home (WFH) tech.
Below you will find a list of companies and the effect of the pandemic on business. We’ve used major brands as an example to show how big organizations adapted to remote work.
In Washington state and San Francisco Bay, Microsoft Corp. advised its workers to work from home. This was a result of two employees testing positive to the disease. Through this, the company is beginning to introduce technology in the home for people to get adjusted to.
Not only did Microsoft suggest its employees to work from home, but it also advised the postponement of non-essential business travels as well as avoid social events.
Apple recently shut down all of its operations to adopt the home technology. This action was performed to limit the spread of the disease amidst their employees in different parts of the world. Clearly, the Internet technology can be accessed from any location—home or workplace.
With over 50,000 employees in Seattle and Bellevue area and a number of them already tested positive to the virus, the company suggests a WFH, where possible.
There is a case of increased health concern. Therefore, Facebook advised its thousands of employees to work from home. This doesn't exempt compromised employees because they definitely need it the most.
One of the largest tech companies in the world, with over 55,000 employees all over the world, also offered guidance to work from home to avoid further spread. Since most of the work can be done online, HP repositioned itself and asked its departments to move on to cloud-based video platforms for meetings.
This tech company has given its employees the option of working from home. Meetings can be done using video platforms.
In Asia, ACCESS, which is Singapore's Crypto Industry Association had a change in plans in February when the government announced a state of emergency due to the virus. The Ministry of Health was saddled with the responsibility of urging large-scale or canceling their events. However, ACCESS and Singapore FinТech Association were both working to make sure they run a workshop that hosts 300 participants. This was in accordance with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Due to the further spread of the virus, the organizers of the event had no choice but to shift the event to a cloud-based video platform, Zoom. Video platforms are the future home technology that most companies will now have to adopt because WFH tech plays a massive role during a working day. As a matter of fact, stay-at-home stocks have emerged. This increase has made some tech companies great beneficiaries of the pandemic.
Coronavirus has just proven one thing—work from home is possible. It is a catalyst to drive this initiative, and many smart home technology companies are seizing the opportunity. It wouldn’t be a surprise that after the war against this pandemic is over, most companies will rely on WFH technology rather than the workplace system.
How has coronavirus impacted your life? Do you work from home now? Let us know in the comments!
Thomas Quarry (Author’s Bio)
Thomas Quarry is a treasure hunter and a small business owner who has struggled to keep his business of twenty years open in the middle of the pandemic. He has learned to transform his business through new sources of revenue, telecommuting, and proper planning to survive the pandemic.
Impact of coronavirus on technology
Written by Saira wo
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