Backliners
Coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic has lately focused—and rightly so—on the invaluable sacrifices of the medical frontliners who go beyond the call of duty to save as many patients as possible.
The difficulties arising from Covid-19 and the extreme measures it has forced authorities to impose, such as the lockdowns, are also being eased, however, by some people whose work may not easily draw attention, but is nonetheless vital to making our lives as normal as possible.
They are the “backliners”—the grocery store staff and market vendors who make sure we can buy basic items; the farmers and fishermen who put food in our markets and groceries; the bank employees; the Customs inspectors who must quickly clear cargo, especially vital equipment and supplies to fight the virus; pharmacists, garbage men, and the engineers and workmen who must rush to build or retrofit off-hospital quarantine centers, among others. They cannot “stay at home” because they have tasks indispensable in this crisis.
In this series, the BusinessMirror pays tribute to them.
Making sure food supply and demand are addressed, even while working from home
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, a typical work week for Zian Serranilla, a Key Accounts Executive of snacks company Mondelez Philippines assigned to the SM team, consisted of administrative and field days.