Covid-19 arrived in Europe in 2019 and, with its arrival, habits have changed, lives have changed, both personally and professionally.

The reality of companies was also affected, in order to survive, companies were forced to adopt new measures, adapt to a new reality, and create a new mindset.

But after all, how has the pandemic affected companies and workers?

The pandemic has not only changed the relationship we have with our homes, it has also significantly contributed to the change in the work methodology adopted to date, characterized by greater flexibility than before.

This will be the future of companies and workers: work will be done in the office, at home and in team spaces.

Instead of work carried out exclusively in the office, this new reality presents 3 different spaces, however capable, ready to respond to all situations and professional needs of the worker, in order to take advantage of the environment that surrounds them, thus enhancing their abilities in totality. For example, a day of work in the team space would be followed by a day of work at home and then a day of work in the office, repeating the cycle.

The pandemic forced human beings to reinvent themselves, rethinking all their tasks, from the most basic to their daily lives, we believe that this change in mindset will have a very positive impact, both on worker happiness and on results. from the company.

According to a comparison made by Banco de Portugal regarding the activity of companies between the first fortnight of February 2021 and the first fortnight of April 2020, we can see some interesting data.

  In the first fortnight of February 2021, 62% of companies recorded a reduction in their turnover, a very "positive" percentage, taking into account that in the first fortnight of April 2020, 82% of companies recorded a reduction in their turnover, 43% of the companies recorded an equal turnover between the two comparison dates, with 24% claiming to obtain a higher turnover in the first half of February 2021, when compared to the values obtained in the first confinement .

  About 92% of companies were operating in the first half of February 2021, an increase of 10% when compared to the percentage of companies operating in the first confinement. In the absence of additional support measures and in the current circumstances, 68% of companies estimate that they can remain in activity for a period longer than 6 months, which corresponds to an increase of 43 percentage points when compared to the first confinement (25% ). At the level of workers, 38% of companies recorded a reduction in staff working in the first half of February 2021, a very significant figure, when compared to the 60% reduction in workers registered in the first confinement.

With regard to teleworking, 72% of companies have an equal number of workers in telework on the two dates (first fortnight of February 2021 and the first confinement), while 17% of companies, in the first fortnight of February 2021 , have a higher number of workers operating in a telework regime than in the first confinement.

 

How have large companies dealt with this situation?

 

In some companies like PWC and Google, the worker will have the possibility to work in a telecommuting regime up to twice a week. In the case of PWC, the company provides eight afternoons on Fridays (from May 1st to September 30th) for employees to spend time with their families or dedicate themselves to their projects/hobbies.

Deutsche bank, on the other hand, goes further, allowing its workers to work from home up to 3 times a week.

Companies like Microsoft, Twitter and Spotify have also adopted a new posture and work methodology. In the case of Microsoft, workers will be able to work full-time in question (this decision being subject to the approval of higher offices), Twitter and Spotify followed their example, offering their employees the possibility to work from home, in the office, or in a mixed regime.

 

Conclusion

 

Covid-19 has completely transfigured our daily lives, both personally and professionally. Given the needs of workers, the vast majority of companies have adopted the telework/mixed regime. Initially seen as a "temporary solution" due to the pandemic situation, it gained space and recognition within companies, which quickly realized the benefits of this same regime, either from the perspective of the worker, with the increase in productivity justified by the environment that surrounds him, or from the company's perspective, which saw an increase in its results as a result of the improvement in the productivity of its workers.