COVID-19 : Utopia Edition

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Covid virus and next exit Utopia road sign.

There Are Bumpy Roads to the Future

So everyone in the State of Ohio is pretty much on lockdown. Only essential business have their employees and everyone who can work remote is. So clearly today we are in dire states, and everyone is making the best of it. However once this crisis is over we could see some positive changes.

Work From Home Can Prove Itself

My entire team from my company has gone to a work from home. We already had much of what is needed to swap over. A good corporate VPN, everybody has laptops, and almost everyone has a corporate cell phone. So when the order came down that everyone needed to work remote the transition wasn’t too difficult.

This should change the way corporate America thinks. In the past the focus was being present versus being productive. It is easy to see you in the office, harder to gauge how productive the average person is. If people are no longer in the office and the same level of productivity is found moving to more flexible work options becomes easier.

Work From Home Benefits Companies and Workers

I just lost a three hour commute. While maybe more extreme than other people I suspect many people will get an hour of their life back daily. Also scheduling flexibility gets easier. So work life balance is better.

Companies suddenly have a talent pool that is no longer limited by geography. Anyone who can get a good internet connection becomes a potential employee. Cost for office space can go down if you no longer need everyone at work. Your office is now more of a nexus to brings teams together in person not just a warehouse of workers.

We Get a Rough Test of Universal Basic Income

While clearly not a true universal basic income the current stimulus is going to be sening $1,200 to the average American. Granted this is a one time thing, but it ends up moving the idea of sending stimulus checks out to Americans. This can start on building on the ideas of a true UBI, that will be in our future as we work toward the issues that will come about due to automation.

We Find Out the Importance of Health Benefits

While the debate about overhauling our healthcare system has a lot of components. The idea of paid sick leave just became more important. It is in all of our best interests, and best practice that sick people stay home regardless of the disease. The current crisis shows why this is a benefit. Expect this to push this change forward.

So bottom line things are hard today, but out of this crisis we can push forward to creating a better society.

About Attila

Attila has been an avid science fiction fan since elementary school. Now spending the last 20 years in the IT profession is going back to the joy of writing. In thinking about the distant future some of the technical concepts he is exploring is shared on the K2 Musings blog.