As Chinese companies prepare to restart operations following the Lunar New Year holiday in the shadow of a coronavirus outbreak, it’s ushering in the world’s largest work-from-home experiment.
Thanks to the coronavirus outbreak, working from home is no longer a privilege, it’s a necessity.
The vanguards for the new model of scattered employees are the Chinese financial centers of Hong Kong and Shanghai, cities with central business districts that rely on hundreds of thousands of office workers in finance, logistics, insurance, law and other white-collar jobs. “Usually going back to work from holidays feels a little weird, but working from home this time with such short notice feels even more unusual,” she said. With hotel event cancellations rolling in on a daily basis, “basically, all I can do is answer emails,” she said.
The virus delayed the opening of its Beijing location and he says it’s pretty much impossible for him and others in his industry to work from home. Without customers willing to work in close quarters at the physical space, the business will die. “The show must go on, somehow,” said Casetify Chief Executive Wes Ng, who has been logging on to a laptop in an apartment he shares with his wife and 9-month-old son.
“The worst is yet to come,” Nomura analyst Ting Lu said in a research note. “We reckon the coronavirus could deal a more severe blow to China’s economy in the near term, relative to SARS in 2003.”Although statistics suggest the new coronavirus isn’t as lethal as SARS, it has already infected more people, and the speed at which the disease has spread is fueling fear.
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