LENOVO Philippines recently said telecommuting in the country will continue to grow even in a post Covid-19 environment.
Michael Ngan, president and general mqanager of Lenovo Philippines, told BusinessMirror in a recent e-mail interview that work from home (WFH) or telecommuting has gained popularity as a solution to the burgeoning traffic problem in Metro Manila.
Even when the quarantine is lifted, the Philippine government is expecting reduced economic activity as a result of the public’s hesitation to engage. To give it a further push, Republic Act 11165, also known as The Telecommuting Act, was signed into law to enable workers to conduct work at home or remotely outside the workplace.
Ngan said the pervasive use of telecommuting is also a welcome development to the nation’s rising gig economy which thrives on hiring employees on a flexible and freelance setup through online platforms.
The Philippines currently ranks sixth in the world and is the fastest-growing market for the gig industry, revealing a 35 percent year-on-year growth in freelance earnings as reported in financial services company Payoneer’s 2019 Global Gig-Economy Index.
“With the freedom to work anywhere, flexible schedules, the opportunity to prioritize work according to personal schedules, plus the ongoing pandemic, the gig economy in the Philippines is expected to see tremendous growth this year. All these reiterate the need for companies to invest in smarter mobile technologies designed to bolster employee productivity at home or outside the office,” Ngan said.
As far as Lenovo Philippines is concerned, Ngan pointed out that the company is prepared and capable to respond to the changing times. In a recent Lenovo Philippines study, Ngan revealed that companies have been promoting working from home even before a pandemic was declared, and that majority of them have encouraged and even made the arrangement a requirement. “Alongside efforts to equip their employees with the necessary tools, we see work from home driving demand for 2020,” Ngan said.
With the Department of Education recently bolstering its online education platform and the inclination for a complete digital learning setup for the next school year, Ngan said the company expects schools to deploy more technology-based learning tools. To help schools achieve this, Lenovo Philippines is rolling out its LanSchool classroom management software developed to support distance learning.
“We’ve long believed that remote working and flexible working arrangements are the future. Even before the onset of Covid-19, we’ve been offering products designed to support working from anywhere. Leading this is our legendary ThinkPad line-up of laptops. We also have the portable ThinkVision M14 monitor which can be connected to almost any device,” Ngan pointed out.
“Furthermore, we expect that services will have high demand because of the rise of remote working, and as an answer, we’ll be offering a work-from-home service bundle that helps companies and employees easily adjust to the new work arrangement while also increasing remote work force productivity,” Ngan added. He said the rapid adoption of WFH policies worldwide has been made possible by the increasing sophistication and affordability of smart mobile technology, which has enabled many employees to work when away from their desk.
Ngan said millennials and Generation Z employees who make up nearly 60 percent of the work force today are driving the development and adoption of technology for remote working and collaboration.
Moreover, Ngan said the “race for talent” has also put organizations under significant pressure to rethink their workspace, technology, and culture to attract and retain the best people.
“At a time when all companies need to navigate uncertainty and keep their business running, technology enables them to keep moving forward. Companies need to adjust now and ensure their employees have the video tools, technology and training required to succeed today and in a future where more remote working may be the norm,” Ngan explained.