Will Work From Home Continue?
When the first case of Covid-19 is announced in Indonesia, some companies switch from work from the offices to work from home (or WFH) mode. The tech companies are lucky as remote working and the usage of online video conference software like Zoom, Meet, or Team aren’t new to them. The adaptability of these companies are tested, to ensure high productivity while not seeing each other in the office.
The media and experts start to talk about how this pandemic will change the courses of the future, even though it still couple months into the situation. Some are talking about how companies will switch to WFH mode permanently while others are talking about how it will change cities and commuting forever.
The radical ideas make a lot of sense. If people can do what they can do at home properly, why would they have to spend another 1–2 hours to commute to the office to do that (especially with Jakarta’s traffic). If they don’t have to go to the office, it doesn’t really matter to live in an area that is close to the office, which can change the demand of housing in some areas.
As the Indonesian government push for the acceleration of the vaccines, the ideas are going to be tested. Are people willing to go back to the office after they are vaccinated? We put a poll to our fellow ridehaluer on Instagram.
While we are not summarizing the reasons completely, an early impression on why people choose not to go back to the office are reluctant to commute and still afraid to be infected by the coronavirus. Most of the answers think they are okay with the mix between work from home and work from the offices, which probably what we can expect happen in the post-pandemic world.
The pandemic may show us that work can be done at home but it’s also important to remember that it doesn’t mean should be done at home. And at the same time, staying at home means the ridehailing companies will not able to push its transportation business which probably is their money maker as both Gojek and Grab claimed to be profitable for both bikes and cars.
Tech companies are battling for resources and allowing the employees to mix between work at home and in the offices will most likely be a benefit that the companies will promote. Especially if other companies are allowing remotely work, the pressure is there for some who prefer to go back to the offices after the pandemic is over.
Collaboration and workplace interactions are two undervalued points of working in the office. WFH makes even a small discussion seems like a meeting, regardless of the duration (even if it’s only for 15 minutes).
The companies have to start thinking how to press the reset button. A solid plan to give the employees reason why they should go back to the office is needed. Some employees were leaving Jakarta last year, either to Bali or back to their hometowns.
Post-pandemic world will look like recovering from an injury for an athlete. It will be slow and steady rather than quick and fluctuating. The world is not going to be same, some habits may come back in a new form, some others will be forgotten. Let’s be prepare.
