Coronavirus Pandemic Is More Severe And Global Than The 9/11 Or 2008 Financial Crisis
Lying down in my bed, I wonder where we will be in six months, a year, 10 years from now? What will happen to my job? Will we be able to live a normal life again or not?
As coronavirus is hitting the economy, will things remain the same? All this is quite overwhelming, but it seems we know what it would be like. We’ve seen it before, on TV and in blockbusters and this makes the encounter less strange, but experiencing and watching it are two different things.
But this too has a silver lining, we humans have a quality of adapting ourselves to the way we live in. As we settle into the new circumstances to fight COVID-19, this new set will soon become Normal for us, and soon we will be comfortable with it.
Where some key industries will evolve, many will die. Businesses and economies will work differently. Technology will become the core focus, backbone, and delivery mechanism for many companies. Tech events will no longer be hosted as they used to, AI will take over the market, and there will be a lot more changes in different fields.
In addition to this, a massive change in how people used to operate and are now operating can be witnessed. To help understand here is a quick analysis.
Change in Activities Since Outbreak
| Activities | Used to Do | Current Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 39.60% | 11.80% |
| Working in a job | 62.20% | 11.60% |
| Visiting friends | 51.10% | 26.90% |
| Using ride shares, Lyft or Uber services | 29.30% | 39.50% |
| Using mobile order-ahead | 58.80% | 24.20% |
| Using local public transportation | 27.10% | 44.40% |
| Traveling outside domestic | 51.00% | 36.10% |
| Traveling internationally | 29.30% | 49.40% |
| Traveling internationally for business | 10.60% | 50.70% |
| Traveling by air within the United States for business | 13.60% | 49.90% |
| Traveling for personal reasons | 54.70% | 43.80% |
| Travel for business | 16.10% | 45.40% |
| Shopping using mobile devices | 64.10% | 9.50% |
| Online shopping | 77.30% | 8.60% |
| Visiting physical stores to buy things other than groceries | 82.20% | 29.50% |
| Heading to grocery stores to buy food | 92.10% | 20.90% |
| Ordering using aggregators | 44.60% | 29.40% |
| Watching movies in theaters | 60.90% | 36.70% |
| Visiting grocery store to buy read to cook meal | 80.80% | 24.30% |
| Going to the grocery store to buy vegetable and fruits | 89.80% | 20.00% |
| Going for physical shopping | 80.80% | 30.50% |
| Spending time in leisure activities away from home | 72.70% | 34.60% |
| Eating at restaurants with waiter service | 83.30% | 35.90% |
| Eating at fast-food restaurants | 81.30% | 35.30% |
| Eating at restaurants | 86.60% | 35.70% |
| Using public transportation while commuting to work | 29.10% | 36.30% |
| Commuting to work in own vehicle | 55.60% | 10.90% |
| Buying groceries online and picking them up curbside | 43.80% | 18.80% |
| Attending sporting events | 50.90% | 32.80% |
| Attending conferences for pleasure | 36.80% | 42.00% |
| Attending conferences for business | 37.30% | 31.00% |
| Attending concerts | 50.60% | 37.10% |
COVID-19 has already affected several sectors, and the ones that are not yet affected will soon see a difference because this outbreak is not going anywhere soon.
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How Will Covid-19 Change The World?
As some key industries will adapt to new distribution mechanisms, things will change. More penetration of technology will be witnessed. Already a change in media consumption the way we study, work, communicate is being noticed.
Instead of thinking about how things should go back to normal Gen Z, millennials, Gen X all are adapting to the changes. The following statistics will show how things are changing.
In addition to this, we will see a change in different industries.
COVID-19 Change in Different Industries
1. Education – With schools, colleges being temporarily closed people are shifting towards online teaching. As more and more people are adopting it soon, we will see a decline in the use of physical books. Not only this, the need for colleges and schools will also reduce.
Technology will become the main channel for imparting education. There will be a reduction in college fees, allowing more people to pass college. Hypothetically speaking, we will have a more learned and educated crowd. This all might sound too good, but it has its drawbacks. Children will not be able to learn to work with larger groups, make friends and their physical growth will also be restricted.
Not only this, but people will also become less social and will not like to interact with others in person.
2. Medicine – Due to various reasons, telemedicine is not accepted. But since people are stuck at home and they are using this method, to get the treatment soon, we will see a boom in the online consultation. Right now, doctors don’t promote it as they don’t feel comfortable and consider it risky, but this won’t change things. If people find it convenient, we will see telemedicine rising. But to make it a success some policy level changes will have to be made and insurance companies will also have to look for new solutions.
3. Remote working – As people are staying at home and working remotely soon, we will see companies following it as a norm. Although it won’t be fully applied, flexibility in the working environment will be witnessed. No longer will they have to leave their job to look after their children. Also, the male chauvinist society will understand how to help the partner and manage work.
For essential services, there will surely be a risk because hackers will take advantage of home network vulnerability, and an increase in cyberattacks will be seen.
As remote working will increase a severe downturn for commercial real estate will be seen.
4. People will care more about product pricing – The economic recession brings a rise in price sensitivity. Due to the outbreak, people might end up losing their jobs; this means they will have no wages; therefore; companies will have to bring down the prices of daily commodities.
5. Restaurants will shut down – Restaurant owners are not concerned about reopening they are worried about how they will operate. With social distancing prevailing, people will not like to visit restaurants, food halls, etc. Therefore, a new business model will have to emerge where there will be more take away.
6. Digital services and e-commerce will make lasting gains – Companies who provide goods and services without coming in physical contact will be the winner. Remote work services like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Slack, online delivery like Amazon, Walmart, live streaming like Netflix, Hulu, Sling TV, virtual reality companies like Oculus all will rise.
Social media traffic will increase, but companies will not be able to make a profit from social media campaigns. Keeping this in mind, Coca-Cola has already withdrawn all ad campaigns.
In short, food delivery services, e-commerce platforms, digital services all will be the winners. As the economy will improve, they will gain more because consumer’s buying habits will already be altered by that time.
7. Jobs will be made automated – To survive economic crises, firms will have to let go of their least productive workers, they will automate what can be automated. Those who will be able to cope with this change will emerge as a winner, rest others will have to suffer the consequences. With time companies will realize the functions made remotely capable can be done by highly skilled workers in lower-cost countries. In short, the work from remote domestic will move to remote overseas.
8. A decline in travel – People and goods will travel less, and the border will become less porous. This will strengthen domestic manufacturing and companies will move their manufacturing centers to their own countries.
The government will adopt widespread and intrusive surveillance. People will not like to stay in hotels. In the wake of this epidemic, a decline in the booking of all accommodation types is already seen.
Brand name hotel chains see a 26% decline where Homeshare rentals witness 30% and boutique hotels 30%.
9. Fitness – No longer, you will have to pay those hefty gym memberships as the gym will come to your home. Wait! They are already here. The way the fitness industry adopted this change, we will see more fitness apps focusing on offering online classes and consultation from fitness experts.
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10. Mental Health – Man is a social animal; there is an intrinsic need to socialize and meet others. But due to this pandemic, we all are stuck at home, thereby restricting our social lives. Due to this, a rise in online counseling platforms is seen as they help individuals connect with therapists for the right guidance. Companies providing online counseling will boom, and people facing anxiety issues due to pandemic and change in situations will open more for professional help.
In addition to this, many other industries will also witness drastic changes. The new normal will have its challenge and effects on the mindset of people.
This clearly shows how things are changing, and people are adapting to these changes.
Now what?
Fear is a powerful motivator of human behavior. People will go to any length to avoid losing what they have, and they will do anything that could keep them away from harm’s way. Apart from going to work, people will fear meeting anyone. They will be more socially distant; no one would be able to trust anyone.
Things will change in a manner that we would have never imagined. Companies will take advantage of it and will make us a slave to technology.
Now you need to decide what you want and how you want the world to be.
All thoughts expressed in this post are of the writer. If you disagree or agree, do let us know. Your opinion and thoughts matter.