How much will Life Change after its all over?

by Slidin Fast 11 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Slidin Fast

  This period of crisis seems endless and absolutely weird but end it will.

  In the mean-time people are working successfully from home, the skies have cleared, international meetings are held on line. Lots of frustrating commuter journeys are just not necessary. The world is cleaning itself almost visibly in days, the skies are clearing. Wild life is appearing where it hasn't been seen in years.

  Then the world will start rolling again.

  I don't anything being quite what it was. Canny business owners will wonder why they pay for huge offices when their staff can operate from home. Lots of travel is expensive and unnecessary.

  So how do you see it? Will things just resume or will the the world just tilt slightly on its axis? We've all got time for a little speculation.
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  cofty

  No I'm not sure anything will change much in the long term. We are social animals.
• 

  RubaDub

  I see a huge hit coming to the travel industry.

  As more and more companies and people in general rely more on Zoom and other teleconference products (and get comfortable with all the features), why bother spending thousands of dollars and waste a lot of travel time when you can have the little panes set up on your screen and see the person(s) you want to have a meeting with. This is especially true on inter-company meetings when you already know who you are talking to.

  Of course, on big sales opportunities there is nothing like person-to-person meetings. Or a new regional manager or someone new who wants to meet the management and tour the facility.

  This is even more relevant on international travel. Ms. Rub a Dub usually has a business trip to Europe each year and be in some meetings for a couple of days with generally people she already knows. Plus typically a couple of days of training somewhere in the Northeast.

  I could see the company thinking twice about flying 8 or 10 people from all over into one of their facilities in Europe. Average cost each ??? Maybe on average, depending on where you are coming from, somewhere in in $3,500 - $6,000 range ??? (Airport parking, airfare, local transportation, hotel, food, misc, etc.,etc.)

  I could see a lot of this going away.

  Rub a Dub
• 

  Simon

  Does anyone miss celebrities? Maybe people will realize they served little real purpose. It's funny watching the TV shows that were vapid nonsense that just reported on the comings, goings and general antics of celebrities ... talking about something that "happened this day 20 years ago" or something else to fill air time, interviewing each other at home. And the late-night talk show hosts, anyone miss them? Lets face it, people watched them out of habit, not because they were really that entertaining.

  There are some shows I miss and I'm looking forward to After Life season 2 on Netflix.

  Sport too. Can we live without it? I think so. I miss football, and I was really looking forward to this F1 season, but none of it is essential is it?

  Company expenditure on offices and travel definitely might take a hit. I think many companies put off "remote working" because of middle-management, who also face the reality that things can get done without them. People being judged on what they do rather than how long they spend in a particular room. If you've ever worked somewhere and seen someone just sat at a desk, literally, doing nothing, and they are "waiting to go home". I call it "presenteeism", where you don't work but you want to be seen to be there because ... managers.
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  2+2=5

  Sport too. Can we live without it? I think so.
  

  Never trust a man that doesn’t love sport
• 

  Slidin Fast

  Cofty, I certainly agree about the social aspects of things. I certainly still want to travel and enjoy my retirement and see people and places.

  On the other hand, I may be more careful about how I do that.

  I was talking to a financial services professional yesterday who is now totally set up to talk to clients from home, he told me that they had thought of closing a satelite facility in another city that was really not essential but had not. They now have three expensive office buildings attended by one person for 4 hours a day and the company is working well. There is a massive profit incentive in cutting down that expensive space to a smaller more prestige HQ and not sitting in traffic coming and going there. Money talks.

  So, multiply that by the thousands of other firms around the globe, just a small shift in that direction could make a big difference to life.
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  RubaDub

  Seriously, I am looking to purchase some stock in these office buildings that you rent space in by the day, week, month, whatever. We have a company here in the US called Regus that already is doing this and claims to currently have 1050 locations across the country.

  The ones I have been to have been very nice, nice locations. You feel you are walking into a first class professional building. You can rent one or more offices, conference rooms, meeting rooms, etc. They are typically equipped with all of the audio-visual stuff you would need. They even put little plaques with your company's name on it so customers see your name as they enter the area. Plus, you just pay for the time you need it.

  So if you want to bring in customers for a sales presentation, training or have an employee group meeting person to person, this is a great option. I know companies that use it regularly now.

  So, as commented above, with companies getting comfortable with things like Zoom, having employees work from home, having access to physical office space like Regus when needed, why sign a long-term lease and pay to have a large building that is typically empty half of the time? If needed, as Slidin Fast mentioned, have a much smaller office, even a more prestigious office for a physical presence if needed, let employees that can work from home, and just rent the rest of the office space when needed.

  Rub a Dub
• 

  WTWizard

  I don't miss basketball (or, as they have earned the title of in the Clippers incident in 2014, Political Correctness ball) one bit. So nice to see the clippers getting so close to the playoffs only to have this come up--maybe had they not been so instrumental in destroying the rights of people to date those of their own race, I might not have hoped so much for them to lose so stupidly.

  Also, I do not miss Barbra Scheißand one little bit. That wench could disappear off the face of the earth forever and I wouldn't miss it. That thing can barely put together a song without the help of Barry Gibb, Diana Ross, or Donna Summer that is worth anything. Rather, I listen to real music from CDs, mini discs, or MP3s that I bought (or, in the case of elusive tracks, just downloaded) and saved to MP3. As for movies, many YouTube videos and classic TV shows are better than what they are showing in the theaters. And I don't go to live performances--I would rather spend the money on MP3s of my favorite artists (such as David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, and Billy Idol). That way, I can listen to them long after the show has ended.
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  RubaDub

  I think there will be some significant events in about 9 months:

  1. A lot of babies being born

  2. A lot of divorces.

  Rub a Dub
• 

  NoAbuse

  I think there will be some significant events in about 9 months:

  1. A lot of babies being born

  Maybe. Although now is not a time I'd want my wife making frequent visits to the doctor's office for prenatal care.