Clueless Companies

Before the pandemic, only 4 percent of the US workforce worked from home at least half the time. However, the trend of working from home had been gaining momentum for years.

It is estimated that within a couple of years, 30% of people will work from home multiple days per week.

• Before the pandemic, a lot of company management and leaders were skeptical regarding remote work. But the skepticism will go away because companies recognize that remote work does work.
• The economic impact of the pandemic will likely force employers to cut costs. They may reduce their rent by letting workers work from home instead of layoffs.
• Employers had to spend money on new technology and equipment to work from home - a departure from the norm.
• Employees themselves are also spending more money to create better home offices.
  

• During 9/11, it was predicted that the event will permanently alter our sense of irony. In reality, 9/11 caused massive changes in air travel norms.

• At the time of the 2009 financial crisis, Time Magazine declared that conspicuous consumption is now over. In reality, the economy made record gains after the 2009 dip.

• Many others also predicted a long-term reluctance to spend. In reality, global sales of luxury items show an upward trend in the last 20 years.

• Carmakers slashed production of SUVs, a symbol of excess, and just a ‘bubble’ according to an expert. In reality, Carmakers are slashing sedan production due to the high demand for SUVs.

Predictions are inherently inaccurate because in the time horizon of 10 to 12 years many other things happen which cannot be foreseen, and which cause all kinds of good and bad effects. Speculation is useful and starts interesting discussions (like death rate predictions and economic consequences), helping us make the right steps.

The Prediction that can’t go wrong: The future is always unpredictable.

The continuity theory of dreams hypothesizes that people dream about the stuff they're thinking about and doing while they are awake.

Some researchers believe that dreams have a functional purpose that prepares us for difficult or challenging situations when we awake.

The biggest variables that influence your dreams have to do with your regular sleep cycles. If it is a very traumatic event, people will experience nightmares.

People are also thinking more about their dreams, which makes them remember their dreams better.

It is comforting to know that other people have wrestled with the same questions we're facing, and have left us their best wisdom.

• The Mahayana branch of Buddhism includes the idea of a bodhisattva - a person who's is willing to postpone their own ultimate well-being in order to help others along the path to their well-being. Ask yourself if you're willing to suffer a bit more.
• The Buddhist teaching of the Middle Way warns against both extremes of self-denial and self-indulgence.

Guilt is often counterproductive. It makes us feel paralyzed. However, when we are in this state, we are not helping anyone.

One Buddhist teaching could be helpful as one wrestles with this problem. It's found in a discourse called the Sallatha Sutta, known as "The Arrow." When someone has a painful experience, like a physical illness or witnessing suffering, it's as if the world has shot an arrow into the person. The pain is normal. When one tries to make up a story around the pain, you shoot a second arrow into yourself.

• Telemedicine can refer to the setup that allows workers in a large hospital to assist in emergency procedures from a distant support structure.
• Telehealth uses virtual interactions between individual doctors and patients. You may have a bad sore throat and download the telehealth app, where you will be connected to a physician who can examine you and prescribe medicine.

Fifty to seventy percent of visits to the doctor's office could be replaced by remote monitoring and checkups.

Telemedicine has been a hard sell in some areas.

• Many rural clinics and community hospitals fear that their already inadequate medical staffing and the revenues generated from on-site procedures will be further diminished by remote medicine.
• Old and poor patients who may need care the most can't afford smartphones or broadband connectivity.
• Until recently, many people were unaware that the service existed, while others didn't trust an anonymous doctor.
• Many people want to be in the physical presence of their physicians, believing the quality of virtual care is inferior.

Repeated rituals seem to gain in strength, but even one-time rituals can be effective (for example, burning pictures in the place where you met your ex).

The proposed three-phase plan will allow many businesses to open in the first phase.

Schools and daycare centers can open in the next phase. But that means millions of working parents could be asked to return to their jobs before they have someone to take care of their children.

In the early phases of reopening, businesses could be required to operate at a reduced capacity.

Offices might operate in rotating shifts, but other businesses could have a harder time. Restaurants may have tight profit margins even in better times. Operating at half capacity may mean working at a loss.

On 29th October 1929, the infamous crash of Wall Street happened, where 30 million dollars were lost in a week, leading to customers rushing to withdraw their money, known as the ‘bank run’.

The entire world felt the capitalistic fall and realized that a boom leads to a bust, eventually. The disastrous effects felt around the world showed how economically interconnected the world had become.

In 1933, then-President Franklin Roosevelt promoted his recovery path of Relief, Recovery and Reform, to give shape to the slow and arduous reform process that will take decades.

• There is less money to go around. Since March, about a third of influencers were already seeing fewer collaborations.
• This is also an awkward time to advertise, while so many are unemployed or facing a life-threatening illness. Brands don't want to alienate their market.
• Some retailers are doing better, while other online retailers may not last. Categories like fashion, beauty, and luxury will likely suffer first and hardest.

If a recession brings shopping to a standstill, marketers may not return to the type of broad branding campaign currently used in the influencer world.

Marketers are still in demand, but brands may demand evidence that the influencers give them sales, not just exposure.

Right now, it may not be appropriate to ask for a raise. There’s so much uncertainty and worry at this time. Employers are trying to find a way to keep people.

However, if your employer has been relatively unharmed by the pandemic and associated economic uncertainty, and they are not making any cuts or facing financial risk, it might be okay to raise the topic. It would be better to wait just a little bit longer and ask for a raise a bit later in the year.