Remote Work Could Forever Change Business Models
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has created tens of millions of company “branch locations” in neighborhoods around the country, as employees work from home — a policy that, as the virus keeps spreading, has no end in sight at many organizations.
With many companies reporting no adverse effects on worker productivity — and COVID-19 only intensifying the e-commerce surge — more business models are shifting online, according to the 2020 Business Leaders Outlook Pulse Survey by JPMorgan Chase, the New York-based global financial-services firm.
In the survey of 520 executives from U.S. middle-market companies conducted in late June, 56 percent had implemented or planned permanent remote work-based changes to their operating models. Also, 54 percent reported that they had instituted or are planning a more online operating model to respond to shifting consumer habits.
According to JPMorgan Chase researchers, strategies for a new era of online business include (1) keeping remote-work compatibility in mind when choosing digital tools, (2) enhancing digital-security protocols, especially with employee email, and (3) updating risk-mitigation plans to proactively prepare for the next disruption.