FX.co ★ Top 5 biggest changes in everyday life amid COVID-19

Cloud technologies

The coronavirus pandemic was the biggest booster for the development of cloud technologies. In the first half of the year, demand for such services increased significantly by almost 30%. Food delivery, FMCG companies, as well as firms from electronics sectors, were able to switch to remote work with minor losses thanks to cloud technologies. Initially, companies feared overloads when organizing the entire remote work process. However, it did not happen and employees executed their work without big disruptions. Notably, those companies that tried to set up remote work on their own avoiding cloud services suffered huge losses.

E-commerce

Even conservative people who preferred buying things in stores switched to online shopping. During the lockdown, people were forced to order deliveries of food and other essential products from online shops. As a result, the revenue of e-commerce companies has almost doubled this year compared to a year earlier. In March, it rose to 3.2% from 1.9%. By the end of 2020, it may reach 4%. In some countries, the indicator is likely to be significantly higher.

Era of AI services

Telemedicine has experienced a boom on the back of the coronavirus pandemic. A great number of people took advantage of online consultations via different services, applications, and so on. Thus, the reading was up by 177% in comparison with last year. What is more, AI services for decoding medical images also saw a spike in demand. Overall, amid the pandemic, people managed to upgrade all remote communication technologies.

Office work as reward

From the very beginning of the transition to remote work, employers emphasized an increase in employees’ productivity. Nevertheless, it was gradually fading away against the background of lassitude and emotional burnout. There are several factors that adversely affect the productivity of an employee working from home. Firstly, it happens due to the lack of working space and the inability of a worker to organize properly the workplace. Secondly, people cannot concentrate on work because of distractions such as children, relatives, neighbors, etc. Thirdly, the lack of communication with other employees that supports the overall corporate spirit also has a negative impact on work. Finally, employees show lower performance due to reduced management control. These factors worsen the overall productivity and can lead to a loss of motivation. Against such a background, employers began to introduce new privileges for employees, e.g. working in the office several days a week. It helps somewhat offset the negative consequences of remote work and support labor discipline.

Medical checkup

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, people have paid great attention to their health. Moreover, a healthy lifestyle has become one of the most fashionable trends in recent years. However, today, people are more concerned about their health than ever before due to the risk of being infected. Most countries are now undergoing total medicalization, e.g. many organizations check the temperature of their employees or pay for coronavirus testing. Currently, doctors and their prescriptions are often more important than other forms of social control.