Will Oremus is a work-from-home dad who won't have to change his life much if he is told he must stay at home because of the Coronavirus/Wuhan Flu.
He writes in a Medium article that his life is a good preview of that lifestyle - one many or all of us might be forced to adopt very soon.
..."Mine is a shut-in lifestyle that millions of people find themselves trying on for the first time. Tech companies are encouraging workers to stay home; schools and colleges are moving their classes online; conferences are being canceled; sporting events are being held in empty stadiums.
It feels, in some ways, like a dress rehearsal for a future that was already on its way — one in which more and more of us self-isolate voluntarily, interacting with the outside world only from behind screens."Oremus cites a 2014 Fast Company article asserting that "the future of work is increasingly going to be dominated by remote working."
But like flying cars and self-lacing sneakers, we were promised by futurists that by 2020 (or at least in some distant, unspecified "future") that we would be working, going to school, and shopping remotely, from home. It didn't happen, for most of us.
However, with the unexpected and rather terrifying advent of the Coronavirus pandemic, that time may be close at hand. As of this writing, Italy and Norway are two nations that have been completely shut down over the outbreak, and Ireland has closed all schools and daycare centers for a month, which will cause many adults and youth to stay home.
In the US, every public event is being closed down, out of caution, and fear of being the cause of spreading the outbreak in crowds.
But if a city or state declares a general quarantine, work (for those who can't actually work from home - and only just over 30%, it's been estimated, can) might simply cease. How will they survive? And how will those who cannot?
Some services MUST remain open, so a general lock-down of 100% of the population will be impossible. Aside from utilities (gas, electric, power plants, Internet, etc.) and first responders, delivery services will by necessity have to continue. Uber/Uber eats and grocery store and Wal-Mart delivery services will be vital to keeping people fed and healthy. Home test kits will be needed, eventually, to ensure that a general recovery is underway.
It's too early for self-driving trucks to exist on the roads, although Elon Musk and others are working on such things. That means truckers who are uninfected will be allowed on the roads. And factory workers producing products of vital need, such as TP, canned foods, and medical supplies, will have to remain open (here or, ironically, in China.) Supply lines will need to continue, or there will be a general collapse of society in a matter of months.
(And as a side note, the entire face of society will change if 50% or more of all workers are even temporarily laid off. Banks would need to be prevented from foreclosing on those who can't pay mortgage payments for months, and the same will be true for renters. A Guaranteed Monthly income may be implemented to ensure people have cash for food. Either alone would fundamentally alter the economy.)
A couple of good things that have helped us prepare for all this is that 5G Internet, where it exists now, has arrived at just the right time to guarantee super fast connections and carry the incredibly large loads of data that will be required for workers to communicate and work product to be sent back and forth; and unlike the false start of the 2000s that ended in the Tech Bust, online shopping is widely accepted and is for most products very much a reality. The use of Internet services at home will likely tax both those loads, as well as the power grid, with so many people at home 24/7, instead of their homes being vacant for 8-10 hours a day.
We have to hope that all this is extreme speculation, and that none of it will come to pass, but we have to prepare ourselves for the possibility, and if this crisis finally introduces a remote-working future for many of us, bring on the future!
-- by Stephen Abbott of Abbott Media Group, a reputation and public relations agency.
