The year 2020 has truly been unprecedented in so many ways. Every industry and country has been affected by this pandemic. Everything has changed globally from both professional and social perspective. The general consensus is that many of these changes are going to stick around in some way. In fact, many people say that COVID-19 really accelerated the trajectory we were on anyway.
COVID-19 caused a massive personal reset on how we think about our lives, what’s important to us, what our priorities are, and how we can be as successful and satisfied (or perhaps more) by changing how we work. And forward-thinking businesses will need to meet us there.
Think about this: In as little as 10 months, we have gone from an employee having to request approval to work from home to an employee having to request approval to work from the office.
Organisations have some serious re-evaluating to do in 2021 and beyond. Working from home or in fact working from anywhere has proven to be very effective for millions of people. They have been more productive whilst working the same (or fewer) hours and have a better work-life balance. Employers also realise that they can be geographically agnostic. They can recruit nationally and globally, and do not need to build these massive office complexes.
Everything from education to healthcare, retail, financial services, and professional services has changed so much that now, for the first time, people actually understand what “digital transformation” really is. We have always had great systems at play in companies and they are by default digital. But to truly digitally transform means we need to move away from analog processes.
I spoke with several of our industry leads here at Zoom and many technology leaders in various companies globally on what this accelerated digital transformation might look like in a few of these industries.
For example, in Education, teaching and learning is forever changed and hybrid models are here to stay. We’ll see a blending of traditional, non-traditional, and corporate learning structures as demand extends beyond obtaining degrees to include stackable micro-credentials to upskill, reskill, and “new skill” the workforce.
*For further reading of the complete article, do log on to https://blog.zoom.us/the-year-that-was-the-year-that-will-be/.
By Harry Moseley
Global Chief Information Officer
Zoom Video Communications
