The coronavirus COVID-19 exceeds 100,000 cases of infection in several countries of the world, the majority (more than 80,000) in China, where 3,042 deaths have been recorded by this cause. The death toll, worldwide, exceeds 3,400. Outside of China, cases have been confirmed in 95 countries which are leading organizations to shut down operations, increasing remote work and other actions to prevent coronavirus outbreak.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) defined the world economy to reduce its growth by 0.5% this year.
The closure of factories in China, the restriction of movements of people and goods, the decline in exports, as well as the fall in demand is causing worldwide chain effects both in the industry and in the services sector.
“China appears to be in the early stages of an economic rebound, according to our analysis of high-frequency data on proxies for the movement of people and goods, production, and confidence. While this recovery could be vulnerable if a new wave of local infections were to emerge, many Chinese companies have already moved beyond crisis response to recovery and post-recovery planning.” according to Harvard Business Review
Let’s see how different industries are dealing with Coronavirus around the world.
Wuhan
Where it all started, Coronavirus quarantine comes in a moment of celebration (New Year) for the country where thousands of people are waiting for the week to go back to their jobs and university.
Hotels, restaurants, and fast food enterprises register the lowest demand of the year for a season that should be the highest.
According to Fortune:
A big number of companies in China are cutting wages, delayed paychecks or stopped paying their staff and tell their employees they can’t cover labor costs due to the coronavirus impact in their business.
A survey taken in January 2020 revealed that until now more than 9500 workers by the Chinese recruitment website Zhaopin, more than one-third of their personnel are aware they might lose their wages during this time.
“With classes canceled at a coding-and-robotics school in Hangzhou, employees will lose 30% to 50% of their wages. The Lionsgate Entertainment World theme park in Zhuhai is closed, and workers have been told to use up their paid vacation time and get ready for unpaid leave.”
Hangzhou coding and robotics academy, the outbreak forced them to suspend all in-person classes for students in kindergarten through grade 12. With the loss of revenue, the company will withhold 50% of salary for key executives and 30% for other employees until business resumes. According to Fortune.
And there are also other companies (most of the hotels and restaurants) that are reallocating their employees in other industries with a higher demand until activities get to normal.
For example, restaurants and hotels in China shared their stuff with Huma a new retail supermarket owned by Alibaba that was needing more delivery personnel due the increase of online purchases. according to Harvard Business Review
Several months now from the virus outbreak is causing a lot of anxiety in employees as they might not (if they’re already not) perceive their wages or might be fired because of companies’ negative finances during this time.
Some companies are taking care of their employees during coronavirus outbreak.
“China’s largest kitchenware manufacturer Supor instituted very specific operational guidelines and procedures for its employees, such as instructions for limiting exposure while dining in canteens and emergency plans for abnormal situations. In addition, the company instituted health checks for employees and their families from the early stages of the outbreak and procured preventative equipment. It was well prepared for a timely resumption of work, reopening some production lines in the second week of February.” according to Harvard Business Review
Japan
The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Japan reached 1,000 on Wednesday, despite the Government reiterated that plans to host the Tokyo Summer Olympics in July were still on their way.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has asked schools to close this month, companies are encouraging employees to work from home and sporting events are being canceled or played in empty stadiums.
Italy
The director of the World Health Organization (WHO) called the world on February 24 to prepare for an eventual pandemic for the new outbreak of coronavirus. He also described the sudden increase in new cases in Italy, South Korea and Iran as “very worrying.”
In Italy, according to NY Times the center of the outbreak in Europe, several companies — including insurance giant Generali and the fashion brand Armani — have adopted policies for their employees to work from home as much as possible.
Stefano Conforti, a digital marketing strategist who generally works from a busy office space in Milan, has worked from home all week, dressed in jeans and a sweater. He has even considered spending part of the working day in his local library.
France and Italy will likely see reduced tourism activity due to the coronavirus outbreak which can lead Italy into a technical recession in the first quarter.
South Korea
According to BBC Studies that analyze influenza seasons suggest that people who use public transportation during influenza outbreaks are up to six times more likely to get an acute respiratory infection.
That is why the authorities, from South Korea to Italy and Iran, have ordered the massive cleaning of surfaces inside trains, buses, and stations, and large companies are doing the same too to prevent their employees from Coronavirus.
United States
The new coronavirus is affecting business practices in some of the world’s most important technology and industry centers according to BBC .
San Diego and San Francisco declared a public emergency, employees are advised not to shake hands with visitors.
Facebook has canceled an annual marketing conference scheduled for March, and several important sponsors and exhibitors have withdrawn from one of the world’s largest cybersecurity conferences, which takes place in San Francisco.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have recommended employers to advance work from home, especially if they have a fever or signs of respiratory problems.
Remote work as a solution for coronavirus outbreak
As coronavirus continues to spread in the world without a cure yet, entrepreneurs are relying on remote work to keep their employees safe from the outbreak and to not stop their activities during these times.
According to Business Insider companies like Amazon, Twitter, Nestlé, and Facebook are asking their employees to work from home until further notice to be cautious of the virus.
A 2018 “Business Communications Technology” report released by BlueFace predicts that by 2025 remote working will rival fixed office locations.
Which with coronavirus’ outbreak will increase the tendency for remote jobs.
But in some cases such as restaurants, hotels, and industries where in-place employees are needed are going through hard times to cover the cost of labor, which can be covered as vacation days in some companies, and cause stopping activities in others.
Is there a good side?
Well, some other companies are taking “training time” as an option to enrich their employees' skills which will totally have an impact once activities get back to normal.
Also, pollution observation satellites from NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have detected oxygen reductions in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in China. There is evidence that the change is related, at least in part, to the economic slowdown that followed the outbreak of the coronavirus.
