Work from Home Archives -

Work from home is a permanent shift

Given the uncertainty of the future of the pandemic growth curve, employers will be very slow to invite workers back to offices. The staggered reopening of offices, combined with the effectiveness of tools provided to workers to work at home, will make working at home a permanent option for many employees. Global Workplace Analytics pegs the per employee savings at $11,000 per year. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Many companies, for a number of years, have been coordinating geographically dispersed workforces using Internet-based tools. Now that the rest of the economy has been forced to test virtual work forces, the results are positive, and the demand for face to face or shoulder to shoulder teams is greatly reduced. The industries impacted, to name a few, are public transit, real estate developers, office furniture makers, and certainly airlines.

Minecraft hosts virtual graduation ceremony

A number of college seniors and Minecraft players, frustrated by cancellation of their graduation ceremonies, developed the concept of Quarantine University. The virtual university will host a ceremony featuring the avatars of graduates of multiple universities — 1,338 from 439 universities. Wired

dis-rup-shun: While it is unlikely that post-Covid graduation ceremonies will be virtual, expect to see more events taking place on multiple digital platforms. In-game experiences already include live concerts, and will increasingly become a platform for live events other than gaming. In-game wedding anyone?

5G critical to telehealth, says Qualcomm

Qualcomm’s CEO explained that the data speeds afforded by 5G are critical to telehealth, particular regarding the use or portable ultrasound machines and stroke detection devices. Today over 200 million telemedicine networks exist in the U.S. alone. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Network providers and their vendors, such as Qualcomm, are working hard to justify the expense, and migration to, 5G networks. Carriers have no choice but upgrade networks, and finding high bandwidth applications that justify premium pricing is a priority. Telehealth is a niche application that has become far more important during this pandemic, and will increasingly be an important component to future healthcare plans.

Withings sleep pad helps diagnose sleep problems

For those that find sleep difficult, and don’t wish to wear a watch to bed, Withings Sleep actually tucks under your mattress and provides a plethora of sleep data to your smartphone. The data is then used to analyze your sleep difficulties, and suggest ways to enhance your rest. CNET

dis-rup-shun: Quantified self — the movement to quantify personal performance for a number of tasks, is the companion to telehealth. Healthcare professionals in the future will increasingly rely on data in order to both diagnose maladies as well as ensure adherence to treatment regimens. Expect healthcare professionals to increasingly recommend or even prescribe the use of data collection devices.

UPS and CVS use drones to deliver meds to retirement homes

Residents at Florida’s The Villages retirement community will receive medications via drone, starting next month. The companies have been testing the service since last year and are now addressing the challenges of the current conditions by delivering medications to a facility that is particularly vulnerable to visits from non-residents. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: The current shelter in place environment is a text book application for medicines delivered by drones — especially since most drones cannot carry a heavy payload. Light loads such as medications, in emergency situations, are an ideal application of the aircraft. Regular specialty delivery applications will advance the role of drones as everyday link in the logistics chain.

Airbus 380, the largest passenger jet, is 15 years old and retired

The massive A380 is the largest production passenger plane ever built and is Airbus’ answer to the Boeing 747 — provided to a market that was clamoring for large, efficient craft to optimize hub and spoke airline operations models. The A380, however, turned out to be more fixed asset than most airlines wanted — requiring terminal and tarmac re-configurations and oceans of fuel to operate. Airbus expected to sell over 1200 models over its product life, but pulled the plug on the program after selling only 251. CNET

dis-rup-shun: The Corona Virus pandemic did not kill the A380, but it put the last nail in the coffin as all A380s are currently grounded. Attacking business problems with scale is difficult, and risky. While scale often looks like the proper strategy on paper, the inflexibility created by commitments large enough to keep a fleet of A380s flying has proved to be a hindrance. The A380 will be honored as both an engineering feat as well as case study in business planning.

WFH is working well for a large number of displaced workers

In a multi-state survey, 42% of respondents reported to be working from home, up from 9% who were working from home pre-COVID. Among respondents working from home, 24% indicate a desire to remain at home or working at home more frequently after the shelter in place order is over. 60% of workers stated that they are equally or more productive at home than in office, and 28% said time saved on commuting was spent working longer. CNBC

dis-rup-shun: Even a 5% shift in work habits will send ripples through the office economy — lowering demand for office space, office supplies, lunch counters, commuter trains, bus seats, tolls, gas consumed and dry cleaning, to name a few items. The productivity gains proven from web conferencing and remote work platforms such as Teams and Slack will result in permanent structural changes to many organizations — and potentially better performance and lifestyles for workers.

Books sales are booming – not just at Amazon

Online booksellers are pandemic winners. Independent bookseller upstart Bookshop expects to complete $6 million in sales in year one, and hot topics are gardening, sustainability and eco-friendly activities, while guide books, travel and foreign language topics are duds. Wired

dis-rup-shun: Not just Bezos, but everyone in the online book business is enjoying the spoils of a captive audience. At home online entertainment companies are thriving, including those that support cooking, streaming video, music services, games, sexual health, exercise and home delivery, to name a few.

Tag: Work from Home

Work from home is here to stay