What Have We Learned From The Pandemic, If Anything?
People ask me if we'll go back to the way things were. I bet we will, but it won't be quite the same.
As an industry analyst and researcher, I get a lot of questions about “what we’ve learned” and what will be different after the Pandemic is over. And after thousands of hours of conversation with HR and business leaders, I’m seeing the future. And it’s a little more subtle than you think.
First, as we wrote about in The Big Reset research, individuals and organizations have been through trauma. In the early days of the pandemic, as my video below explains, we saw a need for empathy, caring, and trust. But as the pandemic dragged on, our patience wore thin and people have become tired.
Most of us are now itching to see our friends, travel, and live a normal life again. And this is starting to occur: the economy is picking up rapidly and even airlines are now hiring. We’ve purged a lot of the conspiracy theories in the economy (they’re not gone, I know), and we’re starting to trust the government again.
Will life go back to the way it was? Largely yes, I believe. We’ll slowly start getting on planes, offices will open, and restaurants and meetings will commence. And reopening is happening fast. Uber, Facebook, Twitch, Amazon, Google, Cisco, and Dropbox are all opening offices with new policies.
But what have we really learned?
Let me suggest a few big things.
First, remote work is here to stay.
Before the Pandemic, most companies did not tolerate a lot of working from home (WAH used to mean “goofing off), and in many industries (banking, healthcare) it was prohibited. This barrier has now been crossed and companies now accept it. In fact many embrace it as the new future.
This does not mean, as some tech companies stated, that “work from home is the new model.” Yes, there are lots of “remote-only companies” (mine works that way), but people really need face-to-face meetings on a regular basis. This is why almost all the tech companies (from Uber to Google to Facebook) are all reopening their offices.
The new model is “hybrid work” - one where companies accommodate remote or home workers but expect them to be in the office at certain times. And in industries like banking, healthcare, and manufacturing, this means a far more flexible experience.
Lots of studies now show that home-workers are tired, they work more hours (almost an hour a day more than a year ago), and stress levels are high.
But this is an important step forward. Let me tell you a story. One of the clients I talked with this year is the CHRO of the largest medical provider in Los Angeles. She mentioned that prior to the pandemic she spent more than half the day on Friday driving from her office downtown to a staff meeting in Pasadena and back. And that each and every Friday she was exhausted from the experience.
Now that remote work is acceptable in healthcare (the prevalence of e-medicine has gone up by 400%), she can dial into the meeting and save hours of time and energy. This revelation is everywhere. Even consulting firms are now advising clients online, and enormous amounts of corporate training, communications, and teamwork is done by Teams or Zoom.
Going forward we are going to see companies set up satellite offices, remote work policies, and lots of flexible work conditions with tech and benefits included. Prior to the Pandemic this was a debate: now it’s a standard.
Second, Gig Work is now Mainstream.
Prior to the Pandemic, we looked at Gig work as a strange thing done by Uber or Lyft workers. Now everyone from delivery drivers to nurses and salespeople works on a gig or contingent basis.
In our Pandemic Response research (which I recommend you read), we found that the most resilient companies quickly ramped up gig and contingent work last year. Why? Because when you start delivering products, sending people home, and creating new digital offerings you often need more service staff, drivers, and other professionals.
EMSI job postings are up 23% year over year, and the top jobs are all “gig-type” work.
One of our biggest clients is a large pharma company. Not only have they been working long hours and doing amazing things, their recruitment staff is now scrambling to find more scientists. And they’re not looking for “jobs to fill” - they’re looking for “science” and “expertise” to bring in. Since many of these experts are already working, they’re actively recruiting “contingent scientists.”
Last year our research showed that almost 65% of all Millennials (under the age of 35) now have “side-hustles.” (Work on the side.) This means that tens of millions of people are doing gig work, and it is now a mainstream part of the economy.
While this is a big shift, most companies (and the Feds) are not ready. In my latest study The Pixelated Workforce, I found that fewer than 20% of companies even know what contingent workers they have. More and more companies are getting serious about this, and soon we’ll have a recruiting department that asks candidates “would you like to work part-time or full time?” As the job market heats up, this will become a necessity.
Third, Human-Centered Leadership has arrived.
There are thousands of books and hundreds of models for leadership. I wont try to discuss them here, but one big thing has changed. Every single company I talk with is now focused on empathy, listening, care, and flexibility in leadership. Yes, leaders want the teams to be focused, aligned, and productive. But more than ever they also want them to feel safe and healthy.
Consider this chart. Every issue you face as a leader (or manager or supervisor or team leader) can be viewed in two ways: the business perspective or the people perspective.
I would suggest that we have all moved to the right. Under the risk and uncertainty of the Pandemic, CEO after CEO started listening, flexing, and adapting to what people need. I’d suggest this is a lesson we’ll take forward.
Stay tuned for our in-depth research on this.
Fourth, we’ve learned to focus on productivity, not just wellbeing.
Finally, let me mention the enormous focus on wellbeing, mental health, resilience, and productivity. Hundreds of studies have shown how much stress we now feel. In fact I believe we now have a global population who have all gone through a year of Trauma, and our companies have to give us some time to breathe.
But beyond the focus on wellbeing and public health, there has been a newfound focus on productivity. If there’s one thing I’ve learned as a leader and an analyst, it’s that “the best work experience is one where you get lots of stuff done.” In other words, it’s fine for work to be enjoyable and healthy: it also has to be productive.
For the last decade or more economists have been troubled by the lack of productivity growth. With billions of dollars of computing, AI, and social tools at our fingertips, productivity was growing at 1% or less per year. Well now, as the pandemic forced us to adapt, productivity has gone up.
Look at the following. The last decade, prior to the Pandemic, was one of the most anemic periods of productivity in 80 years. Why? We had lots of tech, but we were wasting time on crowded highways, poor infrastructure, and poorly designed organizations.
The Pandemic has helped fix this problem. In Q4 of 2020 productivity spiked up by almost 13%, and it appears to be going higher. Why? Not only are people coming back to work, but our companies have become more digital, more efficient, and more focused.
Everywhere I go HR departments are talking about making work easier, simplifying the Employee Experience, and making digital tools work “in the flow of work.” I’m not saying this is the Golden Age yet, but we have found our home and companies are really trying hard to make work easier for everyone.
There’s a lot more to learn.
This is by no means everything to say. We’ve also learned a few other things, which I’ll talk more about soon:
We’ve learned about resilience, and why organizations should be coordinated and distributed for success
We’ve learned about mindfulness, and how important it is to be kind, respectful, and thoughtful in our lives
We’ve learned to be patient, as people feel stressed and worried yet still lean in to help others
We’ve learned to be happy, despite political unrest, uncertainty, and distance from our loved ones
We’ve learned to be purposeful, as companies in all industries are revisiting their mission, helping bring themselves back to the core that made them great.
I’ll keep telling you more as I learn, and please read more of our in-depth research at Joshbersin.com and join the Josh Bersin Academy to get a deep dose of these topics and join tens of thousands of your peers to learn more.