COVID-19 has disrupted human operations, especially in the business world. The pandemic has hastened digitization and the embracing of new technologies by many organizations. As a result, these recent trends have dramatically changed how humans work, including a growing demand for languages. It has also provided the tipping point for the workplace’s digital transformation that it might be challenging to go back once the health pandemic is over.
Surveys conducted revealed that around 40% of workers in the European Union worked from home during the lockdown. Many companies remained in business by shifting most of their operations online. It also forced workers to adapt their homes into workspaces and balance that with other domestic responsibilities.
So, What Is The Future Of Work After The COVID-19 Digital Era?
Remote Working Is the Future
A few weeks after lockdown, multiple technology companies released new software solutions and tools to help their clients to keep doing business. The companies also started adopting these new technologies faster. Studies show that the faster adoption was because organizations bypassed the bureaucracy of safety and risk assessments that usually happened while testing new technology.
Having invested massively in the new technologies, the companies will not look back after the pandemic. This development points to the fact that the future of work is online. Companies will also target more multicultural workforces with employees from all over the world. They will also prefer multilingual individuals to help them break business barriers during the pandemic.
Need for Decent Digital Working Conditions
As more companies shift to digital platforms, there is a need to establish a digital future immune to the uncertainty virus. There is a need for a labor market built on the principle of human dignity, creating decent digiwork for everyone. The future of work will also be highlighted by a push for a digital-work environment that offers all workers self-respect and dignity.
One thing to take to the future from the pandemic is that going digital does not only mean changing channels. It also involves refitting our labor markets and establishing social welfare systems that ensure all digi-workers have equal opportunities.
More Global Businesses
The COVID-19 has also changed the business landscape. Experts suggest that this impact will be felt for many years to come. Businesses have shown resilience during this period of tremendous challenges. The short-term effect of the pandemic was disruption of the international supply chains. In the long run, the interdependence of global economies will grow in the future.
Studies point to the fact that businesses have discovered new growth opportunities. Companies are looking to expand their operations into newer markets. This trend also explains how COVID-19 has changed language learning. People who speak more than one language fluently have become more attractive in the new digital era.
Multicultural and Multilingual Workforces
Companies with diversified workforces will characterize the post-COVID-19 era. Research studies into the effect of diversity on performance revealed that companies with diverse management teams get 19% higher revenues because of innovation.
The digitization of operations gives organizations the chance to work with talented individuals from around the world. This has created new complexities and challengers through the language barrier of a multicultural workforce. Companies that understand the benefits of learning a language for business will have to encourage their managers to learn an additional language, with research showing companies will also look for multilingual individuals to join their workforce.
This trend explains why there is an increased global demand for languages. People who have seen the future of work are positioning themselves for better online jobs by learning a new language. In the post-COVID-19 digital work environment, you will encounter many multilingual individuals helping businesses venture into new markets.
Demand for New Skills
As the worldwide community adjusts to the new era of digitization and globalization, there will be a need for new skills. Companies will have to help their top employees navigate this changing environment by assisting them in acquiring the new skills they need for their new tasks.
In the new digital working era, people will have to engage in lifelong learning. Studies have clarified that people will have to gain basic technical skills relevant to their new tasks. For example, you must learn how to use collaboration software to work efficiently with other remote workers. Another skill in high demand is language skills. This has led to an increased number of people learning languages for business purposes.
Bottom Line
COVID-19 has changed how businesses operate. The measures companies put in place to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on their operations will inform the future of work. This means that most future work will be digital. More companies will invest in digital platforms. There will also be a push by governments to regulate online work for taxation and social protection purposes. You will also see the demand for languages continue the upward trend. Are you ready for the post-COVID-19 digital era?
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