Fourteen months into the pandemic and the end is still nowhere in sight in this part of the world. Still under partial lockdown, rising number of daily cases, hospitals on the brink of collapse and the chance for the majority to be vaccinated remain a slow, agonizing wait.
Like everywhere else, many people have lost their loved ones or livelihood, even both. There is a shared experience of grief, uncertainty, and anxiety.
Some would say, we may be going through the same storm, but not everyone’s on the same boat. I may be one of the lucky ones. I am grateful to be working for a company that allowed almost a hundred percent of the workforce to work from home, with significant benefits to boot like electricity and internet allowance on top of our regular bonuses. Still, there’s the struggle of missing your work friends, not being able to travel, unwind, and general boredom. For some, keeping a work-life balance may have also been proven difficult and not everyone lives in a work-conducive environment at home.
Despite these considerably small inconveniences, there is a part of me that dreads the day we will go back to the old normal, to the way things were before a virus changed the world.
For the last 20 years, I have been alloting at least 4 hours of my day commuting for work, forced to go through the oftentimes unreliable and uncomfortable public transportation that I definitely don’t miss. I would be lucky enough to even get five hours of sleep, considering I work at the graveyard shift. Sometimes, the daily travel feels even more tiring than the work itself, especially during the typhoon season – you even face the risk of being stranded. I get sick with severe cough and cold, even flu due to exhaustion.
But for more than a year now, I didn’t even get a mild cough.
Aside from public transport expenses which take a huge chunk of my salary, I also realize how much I may have unnecessarily spent on clothing, shoes, and even overpriced food and drinks. Last year, I only bought one pair of sneakers and wore a white shirt or tank top and boxers on a daily basis. Right now, I get to eat home-cooked meals that are both healthier and cheaper. Expenses became controlled which means more is allotted for savings and even investments.
More time spent with family would be the best part. Many of my colleagues finally get the chance to go back home to their provinces after years of working in the capital. It was nice to see them reunited with their kids and loved ones. It’s not only overseas workers that may feel homesick, there are many inter-island workers too that miss out on their kids growing up.
Are things better now than before?
All these make me wonder if some things were actually better now than before. Of course, there are many industries that are still hanging by a thread like travel, fitness, leisure, performance arts, and those that are suddenly considered “non-essential”. But for those companies that were able to successfully shift to the work-from-home setup, then perhaps it may be time to re-assess if this would be the better new normal even when the pandemic is over.
Perhaps companies should take a cue from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg who announced last year that at least 50 percent of his employees would be working from home for the next five to ten years, even giving opportunities to those outside of the US to work in the biggest social media platform without leaving their countries. A friend of mine was just recently hired by a company based in Singapore without even leaving his room.
Employment possibilities have even become more flexible now especially with tech industries.
Our company is also considering a partial office-home setup eventually, which is also acceptable to still be able to have better working relations among teammates. They constantly take surveys from employees, regarding our well-being and productivity which have been consistently high ever since the site closure.
This pandemic defined what is deemed essential and non-essential. We have realized that malls are not as important as rice fields; that people have wasted so much time in traffic; that health is one sector that every government should have prioritized and that people can extend a helping hand when authorities no longer can.
I can’t wait for this pandemic to be over and my heart still breaks for everyone losing their loved ones. I can’t wait to see my friends again and give them a tight hug and say “We made it!”
But perhaps we shouldn’t go back to the way things were but go back to the things that truly matter – family, health, hope, and love.
