The pandemic has exacerbated the fact that many people were working on jobs that didn’t pay enough for them to build a small nest egg for emergencies such as losing their job through no fault of their own.
For many, wages have not increased as fast as the cost of living.
Since the 1980’s the middle class has bared the brunt of the cost of programs that are the safety net for the poorer and unemployed f the country while CEOs have seen their pay rise exponentially during the same period.
During the 1980’s there was a war against unions and ways to bypass collective bargaining that kept the middle class from falling lower in the economy.
Since WWII, union workers and trade unions were the engine that ran the economy until politicians felt that unions were a problem and not the greed of the rich that wanted even more wealth and to subjugate the workers and give them a lesser voice in the companies about working conditions and pay raises while prices for cheaper materials and automation was killing jobs.
Productivity was increased with fewer workers and yet the employees left did not get any benefit from their increased productivity but expected to rise overall production with fewer people and no company loyalty or a true cost of living not tied to a new math using the GDP and not the true cost of living that is higher than the GDP.
It was unions that got the 40-hour week, overtime pay, and benefits for workers, also working conditions with each new contract and a grievance procedure for when seniority or other contracted item was ignored by management.
By eliminating unions came the end of negotiated workers rights that were replaced with whatever the company decided to do and left the workers with nothing to fall back on.
In 2020, the President and Congress took it a step further by changing the rules byn trying to eliminating class actins against companies by the workers and want it replaced with each employee having to file separately further enabling the companies to rules like oligarchs over their employees like kings over their subjects.
The current administration through the Supreme court also decided that corporations are people and not subject to the rules of law but by beliefs of their religion further discriminating against their employees that may not hold the same beliefs trying to turn into a theocracy not following the law of the land.
For this and many other reasons the growth of Work From home is the choice for many people so that they can make choices for their family and work environment for themselves.
The pandemic has caused more people to look for opportunities that will allow them to work from home for myriad reasons.
Working From Home
First, allows individuals to accept or reject any assignment.
Second, no commute during a pandemic.
Third, more time with the family.
Forth, healthier eating.
Fifth, fewer miles driven and someone home for deliveries.
Sixth, can help children with homework.
Seventh, set their own schedule depending on time zones.
Eighth, ability to plan for medical appointments without having to worry about time off from the office.
You can probably think of more.
Working from home will be a part of the new normal as more people consider working from home tat this pandemic has caused for some businesses. Workers might think about continuing to work remotely.
For some working remotely is less stressful then working in an office building with questionable safety for health concerns and from some co-workers. They can concentrate of the job at hand with less pressure from management.
With software and cell phones employees and those working from home can still have face to face and conferences without having to be at a physical location within a group environment brick and mortar building as the pandemic will be here for months to come while the ability to get a vaccination depends on the manufactures speed of getting it to the public the earliest will be the summer of 2021 because everyone will need two doses so that will cut the total doses in half.
There won’t be enough this year to cover the frontline workers in the hospitals taking care of the COVID patients today if the injections begin in 2020.
Working from home is not easy but can be beneficial for companies and employees with some give and take from both if the work can be done remotely.
Robert Medak
Freelance Writer, Blogger, Copy Editor, Proofreader, and Reviewer