During peak holiday period, a person visiting a mega mall surprisingly finds a lot of empty areas, lesser people in the food court, enough space on the elevators and almost empty shops with nearly a third less people than expected. This is how the near future will look like after the Coronavirus pandemic! The English expression, “May you live in interesting times” is purportedly and ironically attributed to a traditional Chinese curse a saying that is quite apt for this day and age!
Ultimately, the staggering notion is that it will be a difficult road ahead in the near to medium
Previous op-eds have used the VUCA paradigm Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous to establish that the business world at-least is in the throngs of a new normal. Correspondingly, a policy of unswerving agility was highlighted as a robust response to this era of uncertainty. Furthermore, the ongoing Coronavirus contagion led to the refinement of the policy into diversity & diversification D&D! This policy stated the need of profitable survival and alternate value creation through flexibility in resourcing and investment in newly galvanised revenue streams. This means that even the new normal will also see a further uplift for the foreseeable future! How? Consider the following peek into the crystal ball!
At-least until the time a vaccine is found and the mass population immunised there will be some aspects of social distancing that will underpin the enhanced new normal. Take for example public transport. There will be less seats available to be occupied which will reduce travellers. This will also mean that bus, mainland train and underground or subway stations would routinely close to ensure no overcrowding on platforms takes place. Same or more services and lesser number of passengers would translate into increased cost for the consumer. Because of restrictions on public transport, traffic congestion on the roads could rise, renewing calls for lesser cars on the road!
The overarching tool that will support this new reality will be enhanced technology and online
Air travel and the holiday industry will also not recover back to its pre-Coronavirus position. There will be a need for more screening time on airports and a consequent increase in queues at immigration, ticket and check-in desks. More documentation will be needed to progress through the various checkpoints at-least at airports and only essential travel will be encouraged. Security will be further enhanced albeit the 100ml limit for on-board liquids will be waived off for sanitisers and hand gels. Even in the airplane the one-seat-apart rule will be enforced leading to a scaled back service during the flight with attendants maybe wearing face masks throughout the length of the journey.
Workplace and schools will also need to adjust. Staggered start and finish times will try to lessen rush hour woes everywhere. Large scale office buildings housing thousands of staff may become a thing of the past along with the constant need for physical proximity. Staff, as much as school children, will attend on alternate daya or alternative hours. Engagement will be mostly technology driven and online presence needed for almost a full majority. This will necessitate more broadband access and accordingly more investment because not everyone will have optimal connectivity. Teachings will need to be less ideological and political and more worldly and global. Consequently, providing an opportunity to renovate the education methodology.
At-least until the time a vaccine is found, and the mass population immunised, there will be some aspects of social distancing that will underpin the enhanced new normal
The health sector which has already undergone a forced transformation will need to continue with it. This will include appointments through video calling and less physical examinations at the minimum for the majority of the cases. Critical procedures will need to be more efficient and timelier and routine prescriptions dropped consistently at home for the most vulnerable. There will need to be renewed focus on care homes and the elderly.
Sporting events will keep on suffering poorly. Most will be behind closed doors and without an audience to start with and as time goes by only opened to a minimal stadium capacity. Security and ticketing checks will increase leading to less revenue and increased cost. In some cases, television rights may have to be made ‘free to air’ to recover some monies through general marketing and advertisements.
The English expression, “May you live in interesting times” is purportedly and ironically attributed to a traditional Chinese curse – a saying that is quite apt for this day and age!
Cinemas and other social events will need to maintain the social distancing rules especially in the form of one-seat-apart. With people being extra cautious, concerts and others such occasions will see dwindling numbers and will force organisers to move more and more online. Rather than compete, movie houses will liaise with each other to release films in theatres. Social dining will suffer with demand for meals in outside settings coming down, lesser seat-able capacity at restaurants and hotels, more focus on takeaways and servers wearing masks. According to a recent poll conducted by AMC Global an international marketing company 32% of the polled plan to make more home cooked meals and 40% will focus more on saving and budgeting money even after the Coronavirus threat passes!
Ultimately, the staggering notion is that it will be a difficult road ahead in the near to medium term. The overarching tool that will support this new reality will be enhanced technology and online presence. This will act as a function of efficiency and flexibility allowing some respite from the stricter way of life waiting instore for all of us. One wonders what Aldous Huxley, author of the perennial Brave New World, would think of all this? It seems not much! As he already knew that “most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted”. We have done that long enough and to our own detriment!
