Post Coronavirus World

By Tyson Cash

June 24, 2020

Our new normal

Many people, especially those on the right, want to return back to our normal way of life that we had before the Coronavirus outbreak. While I do sympathize and understand their sense of frustration, especially with all these restrictive laws, regulations, and social norms that we are legally and social required to do. Some things may not change from how they are now, even if we do find a proven therapeutic treatment and develop a vaccine. Virtual meetings/classes, contactless Payment Methods, Curbside Pickup, Rise of E-Commerce, Rise in working from home, etc. are just some of the things that I can see being predominantly done, even after the Coronavirus period has ended. Societies have always had to change and adapt. This time is no different. Despite the future end of Coronavirus, many “normal” will stick around for good and be more prominent, accepted, and used in society than we ever could have seen or imagined. Here are just a few things:

Contactless Payments – Cash usage has been on the decline and virtual payments such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, CashApp, Venmo, etc. has been on the rise. This has just further sped up the process. While we’re all probably used to using Apple Pay to buy items from the store or CashApp to pay back a friend for dinner, many of us aren’t so used to driving up to a McDonald's and paying on your phone, prepaying restaurant visits online with a credit card, or being encourage to download an app, go online, or call a number to pay for services and that being the preferred payment methods. Many businesses have stopped accepting cash all together, are encouraging online payments through their mobile app or website or are promoting and upgrading their registers for use with NFC/RFID payments methods like Apple, Google, or Samsung Pay. This is a trend that I believe will continue, be more promoted as the preferred form of payment, and cash will probably die off quicker that accepted. Instead of handing the waiter/waitress your card at a restaurant after a meal, you would be asked to scan a QR code or Go online to enter your card details online and pay through there instead.

Curbside/contactless Pickup – We all have seen grocery pickup spots at our local Walmart, Target, or HEB where you drive up, check-in through the app, and have your groceries delivered to your car so you don’t have to go in and shop. This has also expanded to many other stores that many wouldn’t have expect a few months ago to implement due to a lack of demand. Places such as department stores like JCPenney for a new shirt, to beauty stores like Ulta for a new shade of eyeliner, to AutoZone for a new muffler. All these places have implanted curbside and contactless pickup where you place your order online and pay, select a store location, drive up and pick it up without leaving your car or having to interact with an employee by picking it up from a machine or it being handed to you. Many people are starting to realize that they can get everything they need and want from stores without leaving the comfort of their vehicle and I can see this being used by man, many more stores and demand staying a relativity high levels to come.

Delivery – We all know delivery and e-commerce giant Amazon. But have you ever heard or used companies such as Instacart, Shipt, or PostMates, pre-pandemic? Probably not, however, you probably have at the very least heard of them, seen more advertisements, or seen their contract workers shopping in grocery stores. With low fees, the ability to get groceries delivered to your doorstep without the long lines, and ease of shopping for the elderly, disabled, and busy individuals, it makes these grocery delivery services something that may customers will stick around with even after the pandemic. Delivery services have been on the rise for a long-time, the COVID pandemic just triple and even quadrupled that rise and market dominance for many key players such as Amazon and Instacart.

Remote Work – Many experts are calling this pandemic the push that accelerated remote working 5-10 years ahead of its time within the span of a couple of months. Companies have always realized the benefits of remote working, but many have been to slow, nervous, or didn’t have the resources to build, expand, and recruit remote workers. This pandemic changed the whole game. With the pandemic essentially forcing companies to offer remote work to retain employees too scared to go in the office and continue to work their employees to stay financially afloat, the pandemic accelerated the rise and offering of remote work from home. While the pandemic has had a negative financial impact on most businesses, remote work may recoup some of these cost in the long-term. From having little-no office/retail space, cheaper salaries due to employees living in lower cost areas (not in Silicon Valley specifically), using computer software to monitor employees thus decreasing the need for managers/supervisors, and being able to hire talent all over the globe instead of a specific area. These are all benefits that remote work and provide for companies and this pandemic just highlighted these benefits. Why should Google pay a programmer 250,000 USD a year to work in San Francisco Jobs with full benefits and an expensive office when they could hire a remote worker in India for 30,000 USD a year with no benefits, office space to pay for, or manager to watch him since computer programs and AI could monitor productivity. Theses are the questions and dilemmas companies are being forced to make and think about during this pandemic. I can personally see the majority of jobs going remote, that obviously can, with the next 15-25 years. Professions that we though could never go remote such as teachers are starting to go remote and it wouldn’t be unlikely that for many young people such as myself, a lot of our jobs after college will be remote and our kids could have the majority of professions remote.

Remote/Virtual Learning – Online school enrollment for K-12 was increased by 500% in some areas and at my university which is Texas State in San Marcos, TX. Almost 75% of classes for the 2020 Summer 2 class sessions are either online or hybrid (which means half online, half in person) and a portion of classes for Fall 2020 have moved online. Cost and ease of access are factors that I believe will be the factor that encourages many students and parents to move to online schooling. Why pay multiple professors 6 figures a year to teach multiple in person classes at school/university when you can pay 1 or 2 to teach hundreds to thousands of students online. With AI paper reading software, to online multiple choice test programs that grade them instantly, to using low paid professor/teacher assistants who are typically students themselves to grade or teach study sessions. These are things that can lower cost for the school’s end while also making college and university cheaper for students since online school is typically cheaper than in person classes. This could be the key to more accessible college for more people, reduce the burden of student debt, and expand access to higher education for many people through online education. Why pay 1,500 dollars or more for an in person class when you can get access to similar education for typically under 1,000 dollars through online school and end up with the same degree. From cheaper tuition cost, to expanded education access for all, to a more personal education experience in some cases are benefits to students. From working from home, to reduced office/building cost, to lower payroll cost are all benefits from the educators’ side of remote learning. While you may not get that “in-person” feel of learning through face-to-face, for many students who simply want a degree with their name on it for the lowest cost possible, remote learning has many benefit that in person learning cannot compete with.

This is just my personal opinion on the prediction of the future in our post-COVID world. I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw the expanded use of many of the things listed. Even though for many, that is not the preferred option. However, you may not have a choice. From cost and convenience, many of these methods are too beneficial to just stop using after the pandemic. The rise of remote work and learning, contactless payments, deliveries, and everything that can go virtual will go virtual, are all effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that will continue to stick around and be prominent players in our future for the better.