The year 2020 will forever be remembered as a period of instability and doubt. The COVID-19 pandemic started as a humanitarian and healthcare crisis but quickly developed into much more. Many companies and small businesses in EU countries crumpled last year, prompting thousands of people to lose their jobs and see their finances plummet.
The year 2020 will forever be remembered as a period of instability and doubt. The COVID-19 pandemic started as a humanitarian and healthcare crisis but quickly developed into much more. Many companies and small businesses in EU countries crumpled last year, prompting thousands of people to lose their jobs and see their finances plummet.
Without a doubt, 2020 will continue to haunt us for a long time now, as markets still struggle to stabilize and businesses attempt to navigate these tumultuous waters. The markets are changing, indeed, and these changes are transforming the nature of work as we know it. Most companies transitioned to remote working, in-person client meetings were no longer possible, and employees needed to improve their digital skills almost overnight, to be able to continue performing their tasks.
At this stage, companies have two options: to continue doing business like they used to and hope for survival, or change their approach and find a way to adapt to the current conditions.
The market is not as unpredictable as it seems, so long as entrepreneurs learn to spot its trajectory. We keep saying we want things to go back to normal, but the normal we are expecting is not going to be the one we were accustomed to in 2019.
In 2021, we need to brace ourselves for a new normal ? one that can keep up with the changes brought by a global pandemic. These changes bring a series of business trends we can expect to see everywhere this coming year. If European businesses want to keep up with demands, they need to be familiar with these trends.
Remote working is more present than ever
The nature of the workplace has constantly been the subject of change. These changes have been caused by a number of factors throughout the years, including technological progress, shifts in labor market regulations, demographic shifts, and economic challenges.
The concept of remote working was not a novelty, but it was never taken too seriously either. It existed, some employers even saw it as a good opportunity to change the workplace dynamic, but it was often considered too ineffective or difficult to implement.
It is estimated that 20% of the global workforce could be just as productive and effective working remote, as they are in a traditional office. But for this to happen, companies need to provide employees with the necessary tools and means to conduct their everyday work.
Remote working is a trend that is not going away anytime soon, meaning businesses have no other choice but to make the necessary changes to adapt to it. This could mean improving their IT systems, investing in cybersecurity, using VPNs to securely share documents and navigate online, and training employees to use virtual collaboration and management tools.
The self-employed: a new pool of talent
In the 20th century, full-time employment was considered the norm. Yet, starting the 1990s, 60% of employment growth didn’t happen due to full-time employment, but rather due to non-standard work. This resulted in approximately 40% of today’s European workforce being engaged in some form of non-standard work. This can include part-time workers, freelancers, self-employed, and contractors.
Independent employment should not be seen as a threat for entrepreneurs, but rather as something they can take full advantage of, especially during a time of economic crisis.
Instead of hiring new talent or developing an entire department to take care of, say, their IT needs, companies can turn to outsourcing to cut down costs. Hiring a freelance cybersecurity expert, for example, results in lower long-term costs, and the opportunity to work with a fully trained professional.
An EU-wide need for improved digital skills
As employees were rushed to adapt to a new way of working, an array of challenges quickly appeared. Family members became office colleagues, parents needed to split their time between work and kids ? the thin line between their professional and personal life became almost nonexistent. On top of that, workers also needed to learn how to use a range of digital tools that would allow them to continue doing their job remotely.
The EU’s active labor force was not prepared for this, especially given the fact that 35% of EU workers lack basic digital skills, as a report from 2017 shows. But adversity is the mother of evolution, and what followed was, as some say, precisely what this world needs in order to finally take digitalization seriously. Microsoft’s CEO, Sataya Nadella, stated last year that we witnessed two years of digital transformation taking place in just two months. Suddenly, everyone was becoming aware of how important it is to nurture their digital skills.
As a result, companies are now keener to investing in developing and improving employee digital skills, hoping to have their employees prepared to take on any further challenges.
Automation becomes imperative
Artificial intelligence, robots, and algorithms have become an important part of any business even before the pandemic. While it is true that technology replaced workers to some extent, it also contributed to creating more than 23 million jobs across all Europe, and that’s only until 2016.
Whether we like to admit it or not, humans are only humans and are susceptible to errors, especially during stressful times. This is why businesses need to learn how to use automation to reduce the frequency of these errors and allow human employees to focus on more important tasks.
Digital advertising becomes the primary marketing tool
As people are forced to spend more time at home, we find ourselves aimlessly navigating the internet and spending time on social media. This is a type of change in consumer behavior that businesses need to understand and leverage as soon as possible.
Social media marketing, SEO, PPC advertising, and other forms of digital marketing have become the best way to reach consumers and respond to their needs. That’s because these strategies place brands where consumers are ? the world wide web. When combined with other practices, such as opening an eCommerce store, these strategies have a much bigger ROI than traditional advertising methods.
Bottom line
Given the events of the ongoing pandemic, returning to the normal we knew one year ago is not possible. However, we have the chance to set the foundation for a new normal ? one that finds us more informed, better prepared, and ready to grow.
By taking a look at the trends above, business owners can learn where to focus their efforts in the following months and how to make the workplace a better, more productive environment for everyone.
