There are many valuable lessons to be learned from the crisis that we are currently experiencing. One of these is our preparedness (or lack thereof) to embrace a work-from-home setup.
We must understand that not all work sectors can work remotely—the servers have to be inside the restaurants, drivers have to keep driving, sales personnel have to be at the store physically, etc. But for the rest of the workers who are able to remain in their homes to work, there needs to be clearer guidelines.
Locally, the arrangements being implemented presently in various companies and agencies are like a huge trial run for something that should have already been in place. Let’s not forget the fact that this has been pushed into public awareness in light of the traffic situation in Metro Manila, city congestion, and the rise in the number of independent freelancers in recent years. But it needed a pandemic for the issue to be taken seriously, albeit with hesitation.
The experiences and issues that will be encountered by the different organizations and individuals who are currently going through it must be recorded and studied to be able to create clearer and more effective guidelines for the future because, let’s face it, it is an inevitable work model or framework for the labor industry.
One writer wrote this about commuting: “It is a psychological and environmental scourge that increases depression, divorce and fossil-fuel emissions.” A daily commute of four to six hours in Metro Manila and nearby provinces is not unheard of. And with the virus situation we have at present, the risks just greatly increased. If people are allowed to work at home (or even in coffee shops or co-working spaces), it will be much safer and healthier for people and the environment.
Remote work is, generally, uncharted territory. In the Philippines, we lack the regulations to understand and manage it well. It doesn’t seem to work for many organizations, even for those overseas or in the first-world economies.
But that is only natural because the work setup has been created and practiced for many years using the office/headquarter setting. It will, of course, take time and much effort to change a deeply rooted practice and system.
The time to think about change and to act on it is now, as we are being pushed toward premature but actual implementation by the coronavirus. There is much to learn, new processes and benchmarks have to be developed, managers and workers will need to adjust and adopt new skills and abilities.
I hope that organizations and the government will take this opportunity to build new guidelines, put up structures and technology, and create a new culture that will allow more Filipinos to comfortably and more effectively work from their homes.