THE AFTERMATH of COVID-19
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This is not the first time that humanity has faced such an awakening. We have read, and are familiar with, the historic catastrophes such as the Spanish Flu, SARS, World Wars, the great depression and more; but this time its different, because it is happening in our lifetime.

The big questions are:

What have we learned from all the pain? And how will COVID-19 help us to shape our lives, future and the economy?

My projections are:

The virus will be defeated but, unfortunately after losing over a million lives within the next 18 months the psychological effect will remain for decades. History often shows that during a major crisis as such, the gap between the rich and the poor increases, and most likely it will be the same in this case. That is, unless governments and leadership of large organizations can seize the opportunity to think deeply again, value their citizens, collaborate more than ever before, work together to resolve the problem much faster, and understand that they need to put humanity over politics or stock values.

While COVID-19 is shaking the market heavily with sharp increases to unemployment rates in a short time, however it is creating many mid-terms to long-term opportunities. By first swallowing the projected up-coming recession, boosting manufacturing in several areas, retooling production, increasing the paced of modernization in financial industry, increasing employment in e-Commerce, logistics, telecommunication, healthcare, force auto Industry to modernization, customization, re-tooling and access to new stimulus packages. It is also creating new standardization and activities in healthcare, creates new jobs in telecommunication, media, social gathering portals, while new models of Instagram with focuses on social issues will be out there soon.

COVID-19 will touch almost every part of our lives and many industries including, but not limited to:

Healthcare:

Of course, I want to start by sending my gratitude and appreciation to the unparalleled efforts and support of healthcare workers around the world who put their lives on the line every day to support us.

COVID-19 has created many short and mid-term jobs in the healthcare sector as it tests our capabilities and poses serious questions about our current processes when it comes to how we handle such an outbreak, which we can really learn from. This will bring about new research, studies, methodologies and standardization to the industry which rely on a large and strong workforce.

COVID-19 has also sent us a not-so-gentle reminder about the importance and the need to take care of ourselves and our loved ones more than ever, and has also provided global education in hygiene, increasing our general knowledge of cleanliness, health and medicine.

As the aging population continues to grow, the amount of communication of residents with healthcare providers and loved ones will increase in a manner that promotes the safety of residents and workers at facilities through Tele-Media and Tele-Medicine channels. I predict we will see a surge in these industries as investors and venture capitalists continue to take notice.

Pharmaceutical companies are also receiving a huge boost from COVID-19. Hopefully the governments put tighter price and distribution monitoring processes in place as we have already done in many other industries.

Security will be enhanced by both governments and private organizations as they increase mandatory security requirements. The use of smart devices will be increased by governments, enabling them to track people’s movement by heartbeat, body temperature while causing huge privacy concerns by citizens. In addition, we will see personal health bureaus scoring people’s health data.

Information Technology:

At the center of almost all the changes will be technology. Many new jobs will be created in the industry. Some of the new jobs require new skills, and I expect to see more professionals moving from one industry to others to explore and expand their knowledge bases.

As traditional coding gradually begins to be replaced by automated coding, and AI starts to impact many areas such consumer behaviour, risk management, lending, production, healthcare, research and even education, the demand for new skills in RPA, BPA, BA, BPM, ML and DL is sure to rise. The future of IT and employment within the industry in the next decade will be very different than what we see today. In the short-run many service providers, consulting and outsourcing firms will be quick to jump on the change management and automation wagon, but in the mid-term the demand for head count may partially decrease, forcing consulting firms to consider international market expansion, consolidation and expanding their investments into new innovations on a global scale.

If my predictions are on point, I also expect to see new disruptive start-ups emerging in e-commerce, banking, healthcare, media, gaming, legal, social enterprises, logistics, transportation, manufacturing, smart security and education.

Banking:

I expect that both consumer and commercial e-Banking will grow massively, resulting in the closure of more of the in-person branches we freely walk into today. There will be consolidation in the industry within the next 30 months, where some traditional small and mid-sized banks will be acquired by e-banks.

COVID-19 has been a huge wake up call for many of the banks, and awareness on cost and priority management become the hottest topic among the roundtable. New risk, business and change management will rely on robotics process projects. The use of AI will grow faster than ever as organizations focus on even more accurate and lean practices as they encounter new needs in communication and documentation processes that maintain and enhance efficiency. Customization for senior citizens will be enhanced to include features such as mobile advisory services for personal banking and by offering free easy to use devices.

In short, modernization will increase jobs, but there will be a mid-term decrease in IT spending. The additional spending will most likely be allocated to marketing, client retention and acquisition.

Auto Industry:

We are all aware that the current auto industry is facing major lay-offs and refinancing as sales of cars and some smaller trucks have dropped significantly. Manufacturers are turning to innovative solutions, decreasing number of models and more customization:

Autonomous cars:

Due to social distancing measures, I expect there will be an increasing demand for autonomous cars

Delivery trucks:

There will be modifications to several models using the existing framework but much more user friendly so they can be filled automatically from distribution centers and other models from the farms. The current infrastructure will be aligned for new models. As companies re-tooling and implementing RPA’s, they will be adding new jobs in technology, engineering, assembly, marketing and sales.

Hydrogen fuel vehicles:

With environmental awareness becoming more important in the auto industry, especially amongst younger generations, hydrogen fuel vehicle projects will attract more attention. With stronger funding we will see much more of these vehicles on the roads by 2026.

Drone Industry:

Drone Delivery legislation will be approved within 3-9 months. Logistics, transportation, healthcare, auto and oil and gas companies will be investing in drone technologies. As a result, new jobs in drone delivery will be created.

Construction and Real Estate:

While the housing market has been slow for real estate, the industry will see a strong shift towards designs for residential housing and renovations as homeowners consider adding home offices and upgrading security requirements. As a result of the demand for renovation project homes, small and single-family residential sales will be growing, while luxury condos with high security facilities will maintain pricing. In addition, immigration and demand increases for housing in countries such as Canada, Australia, Germany, Switzerland and in the southern U.S especially in Texas.

Food and Agriculture:

Food production facilities will be retooled for healthier compliance standards and faster production and delivery. Concentrated food production will increase. Jobs in Food, health and safety will be expanded. Use of local resources will expand helping in creating more local jobs. As people’s food habits change, we will see an increase in jobs for dietitians and fitness instructors.

Fashion and Retail:

Fashion and Retail companies will continue to suffer in the first one year. While no one is safe, the industry will rely on a major restructuring and online shopping. Online shopping portals and customized clothing will expand from Q4 2020, creating more opportunities for local designers to create new products and market their products online from which a new generation of brands will emerge.

With no doubt COVID-19 has been devastating for us as a human race, but it also is showing us how adaptable and resilient we can be. It seems that COVID-19 is what we needed to reset the button again for humanity, creativity and collaboration.

What do you think?

Artwork: By the genius artist Hadi Hokmollahi @hadi_hokmollahi Instagram watch_Infinit, selected piece “Touch has a Memory”

By Forood Malekzadeh,
Sr. Partner at VTRAC Consulting

Artwork: By the genius artist Hadi Hokmollahi @hadi_hokmollahi Instagram watch_Infinit, selected piece “Touch has a Memory”