In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, Twitter was one of the first major companies in the U.S. to go to a ‘work from home’ model. It isn’t expecting to be one of the first to return to its offices. It’s announced that its employees can work from home ‘forever’.
In a blog, Jennifer Christie, Twitter’s Vice President – People, writes: ‘We were uniquely positioned to respond quickly and allow folks to work from home given our emphasis on decentralization and supporting a distributed workforce capable of working from anywhere. The past few months have proven we can make that work. So if our employees are in a role and situation that enables them to work from home and they want to continue to do so forever, we will make that happen’.
Twitter also says there will be no business travel until September and no ‘in-person’ company events for the rest of 2020. Like most companies, the social media giant is adapting to the so-called ‘new normal’.
TheNewsMarket’s Twitter poll reflects these post-lockdown business trends. The question it asked was: ‘Post-lockdown, which development will most effect the way we work in the future?’. The poll received over 14.5k votes.
The option which registered the most votes in our poll was ‘social distancing’ with 33%. When offices, factories and workplaces reopen, they must offer a safe and hygienic environment with space for social distancing. However, this is not going to be an easy process for all companies to achieve. Jonathan Geldart, Director General of the UK’s Institute of Directors, says: “Leaving lockdown, when it happens, won’t be plain sailing for business. Social distancing presents an unprecedented challenge for firms, and some may be simply unable to make it work.”
In second place on the poll was ‘working from home’ which received 30% of the vote. Although employees may miss the social and collaborative aspects of working in an office, it appears that the pandemic has accelerated the trend of remote working.
24% of voters chose ‘virtual event technology’. Product launches, trade shows, press conferences and award ceremonies were all up-ended when the pandemic swept around the world. Many companies and groups decided to pivot and replace traditional ‘in-person’ events with virtual events that utilise the likes of Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams.
TheNewsMarket has developed its own virtual event platform that offers a robust, broadcast-quality service to its clients. It’s likely that physical events will return at some point but some event organizers may choose to keep offering virtual events as they are much more cost-effective to run.
Finally, the option ‘reduced business travel’ received 13% of the vote. Holiday-makers may decide it’s worth the risk and the hassle of flying for a dose of sunshine, but many companies won’t be bothering with business travel for some time to come.
