You hit on the societal changes stemming from the pandemic, another whole element of it.Originally Posted by LDAHL
If enough work can be done from homes, do companies need to build huge structures their employees commute to every day? People are social and there are many jobs which are not easy to replicate at home. But for those of us who could work with a computer to get most/all of our work done, how critical is an fixed office or cube somewhere? Maybe office buildings start to look more like those co-work places where you walk in, grab a cart of supplies, find a spot, and get to work. Make it convenient for you. Pick the place near your kids' day care or your favorite coffee shop. Does it matter that the company logo is not on the building? Smaller buildings, less to buy, less to heat/cool/repair, ... so what happens to the commercial real estate market? What happens to the old command-and-control managerial model? If the work gets done without the boss walking by the desk at regular intervals, what does the boss do instead of making bed checks?
The number of local businesses I've seen that have moved to a drive up/pay/load up/drive home/delivery model -- and the speed with which it's happened -- surprises me. The vet clinic we used to use now asks you to call when you arrive with your pet. A vet tech comes out, takes the pet, they do their thing inside, the pet is returned to you, the vet tech can take your payment, and the tech can relay what the vet said or the vet will call you later with the Dx and treatment options. You no longer wait in their building.
Someone in another thread mentioned curbside pickup at Sherwin-Williams, about the last place I would ever think would change their business model. They did it in the space of a week or two. Local bar/pizza joint is doing the same thing. What does this mean for delivery services if every company now has a process for sales outside their stores? Not that (some) people don't want to shop, but it's a new delivery model and it showed up almost literally overnight.
My favorite radio station -- non-profit, listener-supported, has moved all of its staff out of the studios. Even the on-air staff is doing their shows from home. The only people on hand are an engineer at the booth to monitor the equipment. They did this in days. If nothing else, it shows resourcefulness and that business can move a whole lot faster than many thought it could. That could be an interesting dynamic in the future, too.
Kind of fun to watch this aspect of it.
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