In the early 2020 the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic started spreading rapidly all over the world. Governments had to implement strict measures and restrictions in order to keep the deadly disease from spreading. In many countries this included complete or partial lockdowns, closing stores and restaurants, isolation, remote working, quarantine and social distancing. The rapid changes in everyday life have brought various challenges and changes to human life worldwide, causing an unprecedented impact on human health, lifestyle, and social life. One of the biggest changes that people all over the work had to face was working from home.

Impact of the “New Normal”

Since working from home has become a globally implemented practice due to the Covid-19 pandemic, people are experiencing the positive and negative sides of home offices. The opportunity to work from home has brought a new type of flexibility to the workplace and companies report it to be rather profitable.

Workers seem to be proving productive, despite working remotely. The prospect is that people working from home will tend to value and appreciate the interaction at their workplace far more in the future, which could help the work environment to become more social and strengthen human connection. Human connection would not only be improved at the workplace, but also in families.

Affecting the family life

Many parents and partners have never had such an opportunity for time to spend with each other. For example, people who would lose a couple of hours daily to travel from and to work can now use the time to have a quality family time before attending to work duties. Although balancing work and taking care of a family has proven to be hard for many families, working from home is an opportunity for parents to strengthen the relationship with their children and be more involved in the daily lives. Another positive impact that needs to be considered is that home offices help many organizations to deliver opportunities for up skilling of their staff and implement e-learning strategies, which can be beneficial for the personal and professional development of home office workers.

There are downsides…

Still, there are also multiple negative sides that are being reported. One of the biggest issues proves to be the lack of technological readiness, as well as lack of dedicated home space, which can be used solely for work. Another similar challenge that seems to be affecting workers’ productivity and success negatively seems to be the limited access to good internet connections that would allow workers to do their job remotely.

…but of course also upsides!

While this can be seen as a problem currently, it might actually positively enforce the development of technologies and home internet
connection delivery. For example, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the need of video connection, many platforms have rapidly been developed and their creators are improving them daily. Moreover such platforms and social media are supporting creativity and innovations, as companies are trying to implement new marketing strategies and be more active, in order to have a unique presence on the internet.

Although the practice of working from home seems to be a double edged sword, it can be beneficial for people to look at the multiple undeniable positive effects and make the best of the current situation. Where there are challenges, there are opportunities