Covid-19 Has Changed The Way We Work

The pandemic may exacerbate the divide among workers

By

Log

economist.com

4 min

(Wabak ini, mungkin memburukkan lagi jurang antara pekerja.)

CRISES OFFER the ultimate test for organisations. Under the pressure of a pandemic, many firms will change the way they operate. Three trends that were already in train may be accelerated. First, the way that meetings are undertaken. Second, the way that teams are organised. Third, the widening divide between company insiders, namely full-time employees, and outsiders, such as freelancers and contractors.

(Krisis menguji ketahanan sesuatu organisasi, dari cara mengelolakan mesyuarat, organisasi kumpulan dan menjarakkan lagi jurang perbezaan antara kaki-tangan sepenuh masa dan pekerja-pekerja sambilan , kontractor)

So many meetings have been conducted via Zoom and other apps that bosses may decide that this is a better approach than gathering everyone together in one fusty room. One estimate is that 2.1m people downloaded the Zoom app on March 23rd, the day Britain went into lockdown and the World Health Organisation warned that the pandemic was “accelerating”. Even when people start returning to offices, many of those who did not catch the virus will be nervous about being in close proximity to their colleagues.

(Peningkatan mesyuarat dikendalikan melalui aplikasi maya, kerana semua pekerja masih berwaspada dengan merebaknya wabak melalui penjarakan dekat.)

Remote meetings have drawbacks. Conversations can be clunky and stilted, and not everyone (including Bartleby) welcomes the need to be on camera. So physical meetings will not disappear altogether, but they will be a smaller proportion of the total.

( Mesyuarakat secara kawalan jauh, maya membawa banyak keburukan. Perbualan boleh menjadi kekok dan tersekat-sekat, amat janggal bercakap depan kamera. Mesyuarat secara fizikal, bersemuka masih wujud tetapi akan menjadi semakin berkurangan)

Another change will be a greater focus on communication between key employees. Worker interaction involves a lot more than meetings. Traditionally, people have popped over to each other’s desks for a brief chat. Often, these exchanges are all the more useful when they involve someone from a different department. Such informal interactions are not currently possible.

(Komunikasi antara kaki-tangan utama di tempat kerja berubah , dengan berkurangnya interaksi tidak rasmi. Secara tradisi, pekerja boleh berbincang dengan sesiapa sahaja, bila-bila masa, bersemuka, atas sebarang isu. Kini, kaedah perjumpaan tidak formal ini tidak mungkin berlaku.)  

Email chains are an imperfect and cumbersome substitute. In the crisis, many firms have turned to apps like Slack, which allow teams to communicate on a dedicated forum. Stewart Butterfield, Slack’s chief executive, says the company started to detect a significant pickup in teams being created in South Korea and Japan in the middle of February. A bigger surge in business began in the week of March 9th, a hint that companies were beginning to take social distancing seriously. All told, use of Slack increased approximately 20% between February 1st and March 25th, while simultaneously connected users increased from 10.5m on March 16th to 12.5m on March 25th.

(Penggunaan aplikasi komunikasi berpasukan meningkat.)

The divide between insiders and outsiders is probably the most significant change. The first group are likely to be protected by their employers, who will pay all or most of their salaries as long as they can afford to. The outsiders, whose ties with firms are looser, may be cast adrift. The divide helps explain a large part of the surge in unemployment claims on both sides of the Atlantic.

(Jurang perbezaan antara pekerja dalaman dan luaran diperbesarkan. Pekerja tetap akan mendapat jagaan pengurusan dari segi kewangan. Sebaliknya pekerja-pekerja kontrak , kerjaya mereka bergantung kepada ehsan pengurusan, dan boleh diberhentikan bila-bila masa)  

The insider/outsider split is one of the trends outlined by William Davidow and Michael Malone in “The Autonomous Revolution”, a new book. Permanent employees are an expensive burden, thanks to the associated costs like health care (in America) and pensions (everywhere). Online tools already let employers forecast workloads and schedule workers instantly. The current crisis may prompt firms to embrace these, as they reconsider which full-time workers are essential, and which are not.

(Kakitangan 'tetap dan berpencen' menjadi tanggungan yang amat berat kepada syarikat. Syarikat-syarikat zaman pasca wabak, akan lebih menimbangkan keperluan dan mengawal bilangan pekerja-pekerja 'tetap dan berpencen' ini.)


The pandemic will also accelerate the trend towards automation. In some cases companies will increasingly rely on automated processes to fulfil tasks, because some workers may fall ill. In other cases the push may come from outside: more consumers will become used to shopping online, or interacting with websites rather than waiting ages for call centres to answer their queries. Those habits look likely to stick after the pandemic ends, reducing the need for human employees.

(Ke arah automasi. Mengurang , malah menggantikan kerja-kerja yang memerlukan tenaga manusia kepada mesin. Masalah cuti sakit dikurangkan. Pelanggan-pelanggan beralih kepada urusan atas talian, on line)

A reduction in the supply of secure, full-paid jobs may coincide with an increase in demand for such roles. The crisis will have taught a stark lesson to those who work in the gig economy: they are highly vulnerable. Independence and the ability to manage your own time sound appealing when work is plentiful. In hard times workers will appreciate security, however tiresome the daily commute may be. The spike in unemployment will only increase the desire for stable jobs. That seems likely to keep a downward pressure on wages.

(Semakin berkurangnya perkerjaan-perkerjaan yang bergaji penuh bulanan serta dijamin oleh syarikat. Sudah menjadi lumrah, dalam zaman kemerosotan ekonomi, kerja-kerja stabil,bergaji tetap menjadi pilihan. Tetapi dalam masa ekonomi rancak, kerja-kerja yang memberikan kebebasan dan mendatangkan pulangan lumayan, lebih menarik perhatian umum)

Employees may be used to hearing that “we are all in the same boat”. But this crisis is cementing a class system aboard corporate vessels. The managers have the first-class cabins and core workers get en-suite accommodation but the freelancers and contractors are clinging unsteadily to the lifeboats.

(Semua pekerja pernah mendengar slogan "Kita berada dalam kapal yang sama !". Semasa berlakunya krisis, telah menjadi kebiasaan, pihak pengurusan syarikat duduk dalam bahagian kapal kelas pertama, dan kaki-tangan utamanya dalam bilik khas operasi, tetapi pekerja-pekerja sambilan dan kontracktor bergantung secara berjuntai, mengapai-ngapai di dalam bot keselamatan."

Kosa-Kata :

exacerbate

vt (fml) aggravate, (act.)

membuat [sst] bertambah /buruk, teruk/; (pass.)

bertambah /buruk, teruk/:

The treatment seemed to exacerbate the disease,

rawatan itu membuat penyakit itu bertambah teruk.