Change due to the corona crisis How the pandemic is changing the way we work

Status: 13.06.2021 3:42 p.m.

Fewer new infections, many vaccinated people and the imminent end of the obligation to work from home: in many companies, the return to the office is foreseeable. How much of the pandemic’s day-to-day work will be retained? From Peter Sonnenberg, SWR How should one put it when a terrible event like a pandemic also brings welcome and sustainable changes with it? Covid-19 brought sickness and death, unemployment and poverty, limitations and loneliness. However, the pandemic also led to progress in the world of work that was not thought possible, which without the virus would not have been conceivable or would only have been possible much later. “Before the pandemic, I sat in the car for three hours on the days I had to go to the office,” says Paula Widmer. That is bad for them and the environment. The 28-year-old is Internal Communication Manager at Schott in Mainz, but she lives in Heidelberg, a hundred kilometers away. Even before Corona, she sometimes worked at home. So she didn’t have to set up an office there first. She could just stay at home and do the many international switching conferences with the foreign locations from there. For her, working from home is a gift, and she hopes that her employer will continue to give employees this opportunity. However, she would like to see her colleagues a little more often and would like a mix of home and in-office.

05/25/2021

Corona as an accelerator

That is exactly what the future will be, assures work researcher Jutta Rump. “Corona was the burning glass, the fire accelerator for the development towards virtual work and communication,” she says. Many business trips were unnecessary in the past. You can now see who can work from home without sacrificing productivity. And most people would like the empty sky, empty streets and trains anyway. Corona has interrupted the usual processes for many people – and also called them into question. “When things go well, changes are difficult, that’s why digitization went so slowly, our workplaces hardly changed – and we have had ten years of partying in which no one wanted to change anything,” says the professor for international personnel management and organizational development. It was only the “external pandemic factor” that showed what was different and what was better, explains Rump. But the researcher also predicts a partial return to old habits. “We won’t go from one extreme to the other, no more business trips, just online conferences, but maybe only half as much of everything. People want the positive out of both, a healthy amount of everything.”

04/28/2021

No need to work in new ways

But not all of them can or want to be part of this new world of work. “I also missed setting up a nice study,” says Daniel Brixius. “But I don’t have far to go to the office, and I have two small children at home. I’m better at flow at work.” The marketing manager was mostly with the company even during the pandemic. A hygiene situation has been created there for colleagues who prefer to work in the company, which makes this possible. His colleagues in production couldn’t stay at home either, for nothing has changed for them. He is happy if the workplace situation remains flexible in the future, but more so for his colleagues. He himself feels more comfortable in the office, especially when a few more colleagues come again. And they don’t even have to all have their fixed desks.

05/26/2021

Companies have to offer flexible forms of work

Work researcher Rump calls these hybrid models. Anyone who wants to remain fit for the future as a company must offer flexible forms of work and also communicate virtually. Work-life balance is becoming more and more important to employees. If you have nothing to offer, you have to give an applicant a good reason. That is why the sectors with a shortage of young talent and skilled workers are driving the transformation that has begun. “But the whole business world will change faster with Corona than it would have done without it,” says Rump. “Retailers are becoming online retailers, virtual business processes run much faster than analog processes, and e-commerce and artificial intelligence also intervene in logistics and production.”

Expect new elbow mentality

But not everything is great, she points out. The “we-feeling” in the teams suffers when colleagues hardly meet, and the solidarity that was felt for one another during the pandemic will give way to a new elbow mentality. Because before that the coffers were full, the markets were distributed. Now both the state pots are empty and the reserves of many companies have been used up. But now, it is said, is the time to invest in order to stay “up to date”. “I fear a stronger global distribution struggle for a smaller cake and therefore less consensus,” said the professor.

05/19/2021

“Team spirit is more likely to arise when working in the office”

Nina Moyer does not fear that for the special glass manufacturer Schott. She is responsible for the company’s global talent management and now feels, on the alleged home stretch of the pandemic, internal joy and gratitude of the employees towards the company, which is getting through the crisis well. “But I am also convinced that we shouldn’t keep everything we’ve done in the past 18 months. In my opinion, the right spirit and team spirit is more likely to come about when working together in the office.” But you have learned a lot across all departments, says the HR manager. “Today we can make meetings much more compact and effective and realize that you don’t have to fly around the globe for every meeting, a lot goes online. After the pandemic experience, we appreciate the encounter, the togetherness in the office, much more – it used to be Of course. Never before have so many colleagues asked whether the summer party will take place again this year. ”

FAQ 01/12/2021

Mix as the best model

The labor scientist Rump also says that the mix will be the best model. As practical as home office is for many, it is even physically restrictive. You look at a monitor all day and hardly move. “Most people work more effectively at home, hardly take breaks, forget which day of the week is because every day appears the same. Who can handle it?” And with it, it also answers the question of whether employees work well in the home office or just mow the lawn. “Anyone who does not work properly in the home office has shit their employer in the office beforehand and slipped away where he could.” It is important that the new world of work is created together with the employees. Surveys have shown that there is a great desire to be able to choose – between the more conventional or the new way of working.

Yingda Securities chief economist Li Daxiao said that the three major US stock indexes fell sharply by nearly 1% overnight, affecting global stock market sentiment. As of 10:23, net purchases of northbound funds reached 2.172 billion, and the Shanghai Composite Index rose 11 points, an increase of 0.33. %, this is extraordinary. The A-share market has shown rare mavericks. my country’s economy grew by 18.3% in the first quarter, a record high. In the first quarter, GDP reached 25 trillion yuan. In the first quarter, the output value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 24.5% year-on-year, and the total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 33.9%. The epidemic situation in our country is well controlled, which is an important guarantee for economic growth. Chinese people are willing to travel on May 1st, and consumption will explode soon.

The semi-annual report forecast time has come again, and the performance factor is becoming more and more important. The performance growth factors of listed companies play a positive role in the market. Foreign investment variables are often a catalyst for A shares, and the long-term financial stabilization effect of domestic investment will play an increasing role. This is the basic market.

A larger increase comes from household savings, which is the long-term source of funds for China’s stock market. China’s stock market has been consolidating longer and longer, and the probability of changing the market has become greater and greater. The stock market proverb says that it should not fall, and the market outlook is bullish. Whenever the United States has fallen sharply in recent times, A-shares stand proudly, and perhaps a breakthrough is imminent. Of course only good stocks.

I think the probability of upward breakthrough is higher, of course it is just what I think. It is lonely and stressful to make this point, and it may be wrong, but that’s what I think.

Source: Sina.com

Many Afghan women are worried about the news of the US withdrawal from the country. (Source: Guardian)

US officials said on April 13 that President Joe Biden plans to withdraw 2,500 of the country’s remaining soldiers from Afghanistan by 9/11, a 20-year milestone since the date of the terrorist attacks. father al Qaeda in America, triggering the longest war ever for Washington.

The obsession cannot go to school

According to the sheet Guardian, many girls are enjoying the joy of going to school, comfortably communicating with friends who are deeply frustrated to learn that the Americans are leaving and that the Taliban may return soon.

Basireh Heydari, a student at Herat University, said: “The Americans are leaving. We have bad days ahead with the Taliban. I’m worried that they won’t let me out of the house, let alone what I’m doing right now.

For generations, Afghan girls and women have not enjoyed the simple happiness of going to school. Most of Heydari’s mother-generation women were banned from school. And Heydari and her friends fear they are taking the final exam in their life.

Heydari confided: “I have only one wish, that is to complete my studies and of course work. But with the Taliban strengthening, I don’t think I will achieve my dream.

Although full of worries, Heydari also hopes to have another choice. For example, if the Taliban did not allow her to go to school with male students, they would be willing to take women’s classes.

But Salma Ehrari, an economics student, is skeptical: “The Taliban are using technology, have a Twitter account but they have the same thoughts as 20 years ago. I won’t be able to go to school ”.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on April 14 said the country’s forces “have enough capacity” to defend the country. The statement came after US President Joe Biden decided to withdraw his troops from Afghanistan before 9/11/2021.

In areas where the Taliban are gaining control, the situation is even worse. The reporter Atifa Alizadeh is being asked to temporarily quit her job due to safety concerns.

At least eight journalists have been killed in the country in the past six months, as part of a wave of attacks targeting media workers and activists.

Basireh Safa Theri, a social activist who was lucky enough to go to school after the fall of the Taliban. She is closely monitoring negotiations between the national government and the Taliban after international forces have left. However, the Afghan peace process is still at a standstill as negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban in the Qatar capital, Doha, stall.

“They are negotiating every day but unfortunately there is no word about women’s education. They just talk about power ”.

America failed, Taliban prevailed?

Afghans fear that as the US and its allies withdraw from Afghanistan, tensions between the national government and the Taliban will intensify.

According to UN statistics, violence against civilians, especially women and children, has not declined in the past year. The Taliban’s control in Afghanistan is seen to be greater than at any time in the past two decades, raising doubts about the ambiguous effectiveness of the continued foreign military presence in the country.

On April 14, Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) William Burns told the US Senate Intelligence Committee: “When the US military withdraws, the ability to collect (intelligence) and operate US action against threats will diminish. That is simply the truth. “

According to analysis of the sheet National Interest, with the US announcing its withdrawal, the United States finally conceded defeat in its longest war and surrendered to the Taliban rebels.

It is argued that the Taliban had the upper hand in this persistent war. They think the Taliban have achieved exactly what they want: the moment the last US troops leave Afghanistan, nothing will stop the Taliban from taking over the country, a goal that forces This has been fighting since being taken down in 2001.

This is a worrying development, especially when it is realized that recently the Afghan government has only controlled about 30% of the country’s territory (down sharply from 50% in 2018), while the The remaining land is still disputed and is likely to be appropriated.

That is a sign that the Afghan government is losing control of the country and the Taliban are reviving.

Therefore, it is quite easy to explain why Heydari and many of her friends are so confused about the way ahead.

(synthetic)