CDC Guidelines Will Change the Nature of Work
May 29, 2020
Work-from-home model, shifting on-premises protection requirements create opportunities for vendors and partners
By Larry Walsh
Across the United States, even in regions hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy is coming back to life. Businesses are reopening and people are returning to work. But work won’t be the same, and new guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) will drive more businesses to rethink their structures and keep employees working from home where possible. The shift will drive technology investments and services for the near and long term.
Many of the CDC’s new guidelines come with few surprises. Businesses and building owners are encouraging temperature checks before allowing people to enter. Always-on face masks are required business attire. And separating workstations either through distance – 2 meters apart – or with Plexiglas or other barriers will reshape the office.
CDC guidelines recommend saying goodbye to communal coffee stations and free food, as such office perks tend to draw people together. Instead, CDC recommends grab-and-go snacks and beverages, if any, for office staff.
What’s problematic for city offices are distancing requirements in elevators. The CDC recommends social distancing in lifts, and some buildings already restrict passenger loads to just two people. The limited capacity could make getting people up and down office towers problematic – if not impossible.
An unforeseen but oft-questioned issue is how businesses should get their employees to work. In areas where public transportation is common, the CDC recommends that people avoid trains and buses and opt to drive to work alone. The agency recommends that businesses encourage solo driving and pay for parking.
On top of all those measures, the CDC recommends regular and routine disinfecting of office spaces, including all surfaces and common areas. While information on how long COVID-19 lives on surfaces – particularly of different materials – CDC says disinfecting will reduce the risk of incidental transmission.
While these guidelines seem like common sense, they come with many costs. Business owners and managers are calculating the expense of having to pay for a slew of new services, office reconfigurations, expanded space utilization, and employee off-sets. The tally of COVID-19 mitigation measures will likely drive many to reconsider bringing employees back to the office.
According to a Gartner study, 73% of CFOs are planning to keep as much as 20% of their workforces permanently working from home to avoid costs and capitalize on productivity gains. Information varies on the benefits of working from home. Some studies find that employees working from home will clock one to two additional hours of work per month, resulting in three to four additional workweeks per year. Other studies show that productivity drops off by 10% to 20%, which is offset by the associated cost savings of not having to support office space and other amenities.
These guidelines will drive many changes in technology investments and management, which are already being seen by vendors and solution providers.
Businesses that are fully or partially reopening their offices will need to invest in new technologies, such as thermal temperature readers, personnel monitoring systems, mobile applications, and digital signage for quick dissemination of information. COVID-19 will spur a rethinking and acceleration of Internet of Things adoption as smart businesses will look to automate the monitoring and management of their physical space.
Office technology will change too. Before the pandemic, workspace planners were turning to technology to make the office environment more flexible and agile. Office furniture manufacturers were fielding products that incorporated collaboration technologies that could easily move around offices for huddles and collaboration. That will change in favor of in-office videoconferencing and collaboration, isolated workspaces, and paperless applications and processes.
Vendors and solution providers experienced a sea change during the COVID-19 crash, with millions of people suddenly having to work from home. The displacement is causing many businesses and people to rethink their work technology.
Business-class PCs will replace the throw-away consumer machines used by many workers; Lenovo anticipates the PC market will increase as much as 30% over the next three years as a result of the work-from-home movement. Accessories once thought of as “nice to have,” such as headsets, are becoming essentials. And security remains a ubiquitous concern as planners start deploying more VPNs and data encryption to secure distributed digital assets. Above all other technologies, security tops the list among solution providers, according to The 2112 Group’s study, COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Channel Partners.
Perhaps the most significant change resulting from the work-from-home shift is the solidification of cloud computing and collaboration. The pandemic caused cloud utilization to surge as much as 50%. Businesses are racing to acquire collaboration tools and platforms. Users are discovering resources that help them manage workloads digitally. This trend will likely continue for the foreseeable future. In the 2112 study, 36% of solution providers said they expect an elevated demand for cloud services through the end of the year.
Videoconferencing is here to stay. Whether working in an office or from home, videoconferencing is the tool that will keep staff together and maintain connections with customers. Some people speculate that virtual and augmented reality will supplement videoconferencing, allowing people to have a simulated in-room experience without having to leave their homes. Nearly one-third of solution providers tell 2112 that collaboration is in high demand because of the pandemic.
People are longing for a return to normalcy as the weather improves and signs of the economy coming back to life become visible. However, the CDC guidelines will likely dampen the enthusiasm for returning to the office for many companies across the United States and around the world. The shift in work structures will create a bonanza for technology vendors and solution providers that can either mitigate on-premises risk or facilitate effective work-from-home scenarios.
Larry Walsh is the CEO of The 2112 Group, a business strategy and research firm serving the technology industry, and the publisher of Channelnomics, a news and analysis site for technology vendors, distributors, and partners. Follow Larry on Twitter at @lmwalsh2112.
Additional Reading:
CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL: COVID-19 Employer Information for Office Buildings
THE NEW YORK TIMES: C.D.C. Recommends Sweeping Changes to American Offices
WALL STREET JOURNAL: Miss Your Office? Some Companies Are Building Virtual Replicas
CHANNELNOMICS: Lenovo Sees PC Market Expansion in WFH World
Many of the CDC’s new guidelines come with few surprises. Businesses and building owners are encouraging temperature checks before allowing people to enter. Always-on face masks are required business attire. And separating workstations either through distance – 2 meters apart – or with Plexiglas or other barriers will reshape the office.
CDC guidelines recommend saying goodbye to communal coffee stations and free food, as such office perks tend to draw people together. Instead, CDC recommends grab-and-go snacks and beverages, if any, for office staff.
What’s problematic for city offices are distancing requirements in elevators. The CDC recommends social distancing in lifts, and some buildings already restrict passenger loads to just two people. The limited capacity could make getting people up and down office towers problematic – if not impossible.
An unforeseen but oft-questioned issue is how businesses should get their employees to work. In areas where public transportation is common, the CDC recommends that people avoid trains and buses and opt to drive to work alone. The agency recommends that businesses encourage solo driving and pay for parking.
On top of all those measures, the CDC recommends regular and routine disinfecting of office spaces, including all surfaces and common areas. While information on how long COVID-19 lives on surfaces – particularly of different materials – CDC says disinfecting will reduce the risk of incidental transmission.
While these guidelines seem like common sense, they come with many costs. Business owners and managers are calculating the expense of having to pay for a slew of new services, office reconfigurations, expanded space utilization, and employee off-sets. The tally of COVID-19 mitigation measures will likely drive many to reconsider bringing employees back to the office.
According to a Gartner study, 73% of CFOs are planning to keep as much as 20% of their workforces permanently working from home to avoid costs and capitalize on productivity gains. Information varies on the benefits of working from home. Some studies find that employees working from home will clock one to two additional hours of work per month, resulting in three to four additional workweeks per year. Other studies show that productivity drops off by 10% to 20%, which is offset by the associated cost savings of not having to support office space and other amenities.
These guidelines will drive many changes in technology investments and management, which are already being seen by vendors and solution providers.
Businesses that are fully or partially reopening their offices will need to invest in new technologies, such as thermal temperature readers, personnel monitoring systems, mobile applications, and digital signage for quick dissemination of information. COVID-19 will spur a rethinking and acceleration of Internet of Things adoption as smart businesses will look to automate the monitoring and management of their physical space.
Office technology will change too. Before the pandemic, workspace planners were turning to technology to make the office environment more flexible and agile. Office furniture manufacturers were fielding products that incorporated collaboration technologies that could easily move around offices for huddles and collaboration. That will change in favor of in-office videoconferencing and collaboration, isolated workspaces, and paperless applications and processes.
Vendors and solution providers experienced a sea change during the COVID-19 crash, with millions of people suddenly having to work from home. The displacement is causing many businesses and people to rethink their work technology.
Business-class PCs will replace the throw-away consumer machines used by many workers; Lenovo anticipates the PC market will increase as much as 30% over the next three years as a result of the work-from-home movement. Accessories once thought of as “nice to have,” such as headsets, are becoming essentials. And security remains a ubiquitous concern as planners start deploying more VPNs and data encryption to secure distributed digital assets. Above all other technologies, security tops the list among solution providers, according to The 2112 Group’s study, COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Channel Partners.
Perhaps the most significant change resulting from the work-from-home shift is the solidification of cloud computing and collaboration. The pandemic caused cloud utilization to surge as much as 50%. Businesses are racing to acquire collaboration tools and platforms. Users are discovering resources that help them manage workloads digitally. This trend will likely continue for the foreseeable future. In the 2112 study, 36% of solution providers said they expect an elevated demand for cloud services through the end of the year.
Videoconferencing is here to stay. Whether working in an office or from home, videoconferencing is the tool that will keep staff together and maintain connections with customers. Some people speculate that virtual and augmented reality will supplement videoconferencing, allowing people to have a simulated in-room experience without having to leave their homes. Nearly one-third of solution providers tell 2112 that collaboration is in high demand because of the pandemic.
People are longing for a return to normalcy as the weather improves and signs of the economy coming back to life become visible. However, the CDC guidelines will likely dampen the enthusiasm for returning to the office for many companies across the United States and around the world. The shift in work structures will create a bonanza for technology vendors and solution providers that can either mitigate on-premises risk or facilitate effective work-from-home scenarios.
Larry Walsh is the CEO of The 2112 Group, a business strategy and research firm serving the technology industry, and the publisher of Channelnomics, a news and analysis site for technology vendors, distributors, and partners. Follow Larry on Twitter at @lmwalsh2112.
Additional Reading:
CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL: COVID-19 Employer Information for Office Buildings
THE NEW YORK TIMES: C.D.C. Recommends Sweeping Changes to American Offices
WALL STREET JOURNAL: Miss Your Office? Some Companies Are Building Virtual Replicas
CHANNELNOMICS: Lenovo Sees PC Market Expansion in WFH World