#coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #jobs #LostJobs
The pandemic is hastening a new normal.
As Microsoft founder Bill Gates predicted in November 2020, half of business travel and 30 percent of “days at the office” will go away forever.
Heather Long discussed this trend in an article for the Washington Post. It was also published March 1, 2021, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The article also points out that some jobs that were destined to be automated – in other words, robots and other machines doing the work of some people — will progress sooner than anticipated because the pandemic discouraged people working in close quarters.
Technology also permits people to do some jobs from anywhere, be it home or on a tropical island.
The McKinsey Global Institute says that 20 percent of business travel won’t come back and about 20 percent of workers could end up working from home indefinitely, the article says.
That has an impact on hotels, air travel, commercial real estate and neighborhood businesses that depended on clientele working in confined office buildings or manufacturing plants, the article points out.
The article even talks about a worker at Walt Disney World who had hoped to get her job back after the pandemic, now trying to learn how to code (computers) watching YouTube videos.
Though the article talks about people needing to be retrained, that has its pitfalls. You can be retrained to do one thing, only to see that retraining become obsolete in the near future.
So what does one do in this situation? Even if your job came, or will come, back, how long will it last? Was the job you had even worth going back to? Sure, you may need a paycheck in the short term, but where will you be in a year, five years, 10 years?
Fortunately, there are many programs out there that allow a person to devote a few part-time, off-work hours a week to start, that could put extra money in one’s pocket. Eventually, if one stayed with it and worked diligently, he or she could potentially earn an income that would dwarf what he or she would make on the job he or she once did.
As a bonus, there is no specific education, background or experience needed. And, if you find that such a program is for you, you could introduce it to your friends and help them do the same.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
Meanwhile, you can help mitigate the disease by diligently following the public health guidelines and getting vaccinated when your turn comes up.
You can take time to evaluate your situation and determine what your new normal will look like. However, it’s dangerous to presume that someone, or something, will come along to bail you out. Though some short-term help may come, it will not solve your potential long-term problem. That will entirely be up to you.
Being cooped up at home for extended periods has its advantages. It gives you many moments to appreciate what you have, and think about what comes next for you.
As an example, what if you could work for Company X in a big, expensive city, but live in much less expensive outskirts – or, live nowhere near where your employer is?
Or, what if you could be your own boss, work from anywhere – pandemic or not — and help many others do the same?
This is a time of change and choices. Change carefully and choose wisely.
Peter
Tag Archives: coronavirus
SHOULD SCHOOLS REOPEN?
#ReopeningSchools #coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve
The burning question of the day seems to be whether schools should reopen for in-person learning.
Some teachers insist they should be vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to the classroom.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say teacher vaccinations should not necessarily be required, as long as schools follow safety guidelines of requiring everyone to wear masks, keeping everyone well apart, having proper ventilation in the schools and having everyone frequently wash his or her hands.
Let’s debate this on not only the safety of everyone involved, but as a practical matter.
Let’s also look at what school will look like for the long term.
As a practical and safety matter, confining, say, 50 kids in one relatively small room with a teacher and, perhaps, a teaching assistant, would seem, on its face, to be unsafe. Even if everyone were wearing a mask, the teacher(s) can be apart from the kids, and themselves, but the kids are still too close for safety.
Some schools are dividing such big classes into a hybrid model, in which some of the kids learn in the classroom, and others learn at home. They alternate days in and out of school, with a day in between shifts to allow for school cleansing.
That seems a practical and safe solution, temporarily. But not having kids in school every day is a burden on the parents, never mind the kids who need the socialization.
But once this pandemic eases to the point of whatever the new normal will be, what will it mean for schools in the long term?
Teachers have been complaining for years about classes being too big and crowded. These experiments during the pandemic may prove useful for solving some long-term problems in education at all levels.
In colleges, will the big lecture halls with hundreds of kids crammed in at a time be a thing of the past, for example?
Can EVERY student who wants to take a class with Teacher X be able to, through some online model? Will Teacher X be able to conduct his class simultaneously, worldwide, online, as other localized teachers grade the students’ work?
Will old schools have to be torn down and rebuilt to improve ventilation? If that’s not practical, will the portable classrooms make a return to provide more space to allow students to spread out?
These questions will be answered over time, as we deal with what’s going on at the moment.
Meanwhile, it may be a good time to think about how much education beyond high school a student would be suited for, and how much that student, or his family, would be willing to pay to get that education.
Fortunately, if a student is hard-working, ambitious, but not necessarily college material, there are many programs out there in which a person can make potentially great money, regardless of education level, background or experience. As a bonus, it requires minimal investment to get into these programs.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
In summary, we all want kids back in school, regardless of what level they are in. Not only is it better for their social well-being (teens, especially, need to be around friends), their educational achievement and as burden relief for parents, it’s good for teachers and staff.
But this experience could change education, as it could other pursuits and business, for the long term. Don’t just wait to see what happens, do your best to make things happen for the better.
Peter
BACK TO THE OFFICE, OR NOT?
#coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #BackToWork
Some may see Jay Foreman as a contrarian.
Foreman, chief executive of the toymaker Basic Fun in Boca Raton, Fla., is telling his workers to come back to the office.
“We have to get over our fears,” Foreman is quoted as saying in a Nov. 16, 2020, article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. After all, according to the article, Foreman is paying a lot of money for his space, and making toys is a collaborative endeavor.
Meanwhile, a June survey by accounting and consulting firm PwC found that 72 percent of workers would like to work from home at least two days a week. And, a majority expected to bew able to work from home one day a week, even after the pandemic, the article says.
The pandemic has caused a lot of folks to work from home. Some like it. Others, who have to help educate kids AND work from home, find it quite stressful.
Still others have no ability to work from home. They MUST go to their workplaces to work, period.
If you had the option or ability to work from home, even after it’s deemed safe to return to your workplace, would you want to?
Would you, say, go to the workplace sometimes, and work from home other times?
There are advantages and disadvantages to either choice. First, daily commuting in some places is a real stress inducer. Not only is it frustrating to get stuck in traffic, taking way more time than it should to get to your destination, it wastes a lot of your time – time that could be used for, say, work.
Think also of the money you will ultimately save by not driving to work every day.
Certainly, there is value in interacting with coworkers at the workplace. Workplaces tend to bond people, and valuable friendships are created at work – or after work.
Also, when all children can go back to school safely, some of the stress of working from home will be removed.
In a perfect world, workers would have options. The world isn’t perfect. Some options are not there for everyone.
That begs a question: how can YOU create more options for yourself? What if, regardless of your experience, education or background, you could create more income options for yourself? What if those options can be utilized from home, or out in the world?
There are many programs available to create options for anyone willing to check them out. You just need an open mind, the ability to be coached and a willingness, perhaps, to try something you never thought you would do.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
You probably have pandemic fatigue, and even going back to work sounds like a great idea. Still, until the majority of people are vaccinated, we still have to be careful and wear masks, avoid crowds when able, wash hands frequently and keep one’s distance from others not in your household. That means, perhaps, having fewer people for holiday celebrations.
Also, you can help shorten the pandemic by getting a vaccine when it’s your turn.
You might try using this, more or less, down time to re-evaluate what options you might have. If they are few, look for more. There are many people willing to show them to you.
Or, you can stay stuck in a situation that’s neither healthy nor prosperous. It’s your option.
Peter
PANDEMIC HAS PEOPLE THINKING ANEW ABOUT THEIR JOBS
#coronsirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #jobs #QuittingYourJob
The coronavirus pandemic has caused a lot of people to lose their jobs.
However, those still working, though fortunate, are stretched thin.
A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, in collaboration with the software company SAP, found that a quarter of U.S. workers have considered quitting their jobs because of pandemic-related worries.
Alexandra Olson, for the Associated Press, discussed this trend in an article also published Oct. 25, 2020, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“About 7 in 10 aorkers cited juggling their jobs and other responsibilities as a source of stress,” the article reads. “Fears of contracting the virus was a top concern for those working outside the home.” Olson writes.
And, the article says, the employers are responding. The poll finds 57 percent of workers saying their employer is doing ”about the right amount” in responding to the pandemic. Some 24 percent say their employers are “going above and beyond” what they should do to keep workers as safe as possible, the article quotes the poll.
So, what is your situation? Are you working from home, juggling home schooling for kids and other stresses?
Are you going into your workplace, perhaps leaving kids at home to school themselves?
Are your kids going into their school buildings for regular classes?
Or, is it some combination of those?
Also, do you fear catching the virus? If so, are you taking the precautions the experts advise, such as wearing masks when you have to be close to people, and otherwise keeping away from people? Are you washing your hands regularly? Are you sanitizing surfaces as you use them?
If you have to go out to work, and are taking the necessary precautions, the experts believe we can contain the virus.
If you are an employer, the last thing you want is a viral outbreak in your place of business. The Incentive is there for you to do what you need to do to keep people safe.
If you own or work in a restaurant, bar, hotel or other hospitality industry, do you feel safe there?
Are you encouraging customers to get takeout food, or otherwise limiting the capacity of the business? Certainly, you’ll feel that financially, but it’s better to be temporarily safe until one or more of approved vaccines is widely distributed.
If you still fear the pandemic, and want to look for some other way to earn money, there are many programs out there that allow you to spend a few part-time hours a week and potentially earn an income that could dwarf your current income. Bonus No. 1: you don’t need any specific education or experience – just a willingness to check it out and be coached. Bonus No. 2: There are ways to do it from home, if it is unsafe to be out. To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
If you are worried about this virus, which is unlike any other virus we’ve seen, the good news is on the horizon. Take the necessary precautions until such time as the majority of people are vaccinated. And, more importantly, when it’s available, get vaccinated yourself.
Pandemics are by nature temporary. How long they last depends on what each of us does. Proceed with caution, but proceed.
Peter
UNEMPLOYMENT RATES HIGHER FOR OLDER WORKERS
#coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #pandemic #OlderWorkers #jobs
In this day and age, it’s tough getting old.
For the first time in 50 years, older workers are facing higher unemployment rates than those in the middle of their careers.
Sarah Skidmore Sell quoted that stat from a study by the New School in her article for the Associated Press. It was published Oct. 21, 2020, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The pandemic has hurt workers of all ages, the article says, but the New School researchers found that workers 56 and older lost jobs sooner, were rehired more slowly and continue to struggle keeping jobs more than workers 35 to 54, Sell writes.
In every recession since the 1970s, older workers were able to use their seniority to better preserve jobs, the article says.
Now, older face age discrimination, and employers are more reluctant to bring back older workers because of their health risks in light of the pandemic, the article says.
That means more early, and often involuntary, retirements and more financial insecurity as people age, the article says.
Let’s examine this more closely. Retirement in today’s world is not what it once was. That is, you could work as long as you wanted to, and as long as you were able, and retired on your own terms many years ago.
Today, workers don’t know whether each day they go into work will be their last. If employers don’t want you, or see your non-entry-level salary as a financial burden to them, they will find a way to get you to go. Though overt age discrimination may be illegal in most places, if an employer wants you out, he or she will find a way, within the law, to get you to leave, if not terminate you outright.
For the worker, it means planning as best you can for the day you walk into work, only to have to walk out for good.
When you walk out, think about your opportunities to find other work. Likely, you’ll find that most other, available work will pay considerably less than you were making.
What to do? First, if you live where the cost of living is high, think about moving. There are many locales with more reasonable living costs. If you have to take a job with a lower paycheck, you may as well cut your living expenses, unless there is some other non-financial reason to live where you live.
If you are lucky enough to land a job that allows you to work from home, and you don’t have to live close to your work, move anyway, if you can. Cut your living costs, if you can.
Also, there are many programs out there that allow you to augment, even well surpass, the income you have earned at your traditional job. These programs require no specific background or education, just a mind open enough to take a look, and the ability to devote a few part-time hours a week if you still have a job.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
All this boils down to you having to take charge of your own financial well-being. Have a plan, or plans, in place that will prepare you for the day you don’t expect. Who knows? Those who plan well enough can walk into work, and walk out for good, with a smile.
It’s certainly wrong for employers to discriminate against older workers. Many of them can work circles around younger counterparts. But often, they only look at numbers and potential risks. That means discrimination can, and will, happen in some form to many.
So, expect the unexpected when it comes to your job. Many jobs are no longer there for as long as the employees want them to be.
Peter
LANDLORDS, TENANTS AND EVICTIONS
#coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #landlords #tenants #rents #evictions
If you’re a tenant, and you’ve lost your job, how are you paying the rent?
If you are a landlord, and your tenant has lost his or her job, how are you collecting rent, while keeping up with expenses, paying your mortgage etc.?
Two articles highlight this issue. One, by the Washington Post, discusses how landlords, and their lobbyists, are launching a legal war on the federal eviction moratorium instituted after the coronavirus pandemic led to economic shutdowns, lost jobs – some temporary, some permanent – and left tenants with no way to pay rent.
The second article, by Anne d’Innocenzio for the Associated Press, discusses how landlords are being squeezed between tenants, who can’t pay rent, and lenders, who want their mortgage payments for the properties.
The articles were published on consecutive days in October 2020 in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In one instance, if tenants have lost their jobs, they have no way to pay rent. The landlords can’t get blood from a stone. And, even if they get their jobs back, they will still owe back rent. Will they be able to catch up?
In the second instance, landlords have to make a living, too. They want, in most cases, to work with their tenants, having empathy for their situation. But they have expenses, too, that rent helps cover. Those expenses not only include mortgage payments, but also repairs to their rental units. And, of course, many landlords depend on that rent for their own survival.
Federal aid helped initially, but that aid has largely run out and the wheels of government are turning slowly to extend it.
Apartment dwellers and other residential tenants in the U.S. owe about $25 billion in back rent, the AP article says. It may reach $70 billion by the end of the year, the AP article quotes an estimate in August by Moody’s Analytics.
At that rate, some tenants and landlords may never recover from the fallout of the pandemic.
In fact, the National Council of State Housing Agencies in late September estimated that, potentially, 14 million renter households, totaling approximately 34 million Americans, will owe $34 billion by the time the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) moratorium expires at the end of the year, the Washington Post article says.
It goes on to say that 1 in 3 adults say it is somewhat or very likely they could face eviction or foreclosure over the next two months. It attributes that to survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
That would create a full-blown housing crisis.
What’s a person either in the landlord’s or tenant’s situation to do? One thing is to look for other ways to earn an income that one can do whether there is a pandemic or not.
Fortunately, there are many such programs out there that require a few, part-time hours a week, that anyone, regardless of education, experience or background can do to supplement his or her income – perhaps even dwarf one’s previous income. But, one has to be open-minded enough to check them out.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
In short, this housing crisis is not going to disappear soon. Regardless whether you are a landlord or tenant, you may be in for some difficult financial times. If you were lucky enough to keep your job and keep up with your rent, consider yourself lucky. Your landlord undoubtedly is thanking his or her lucky stars for your situation.
But if you weren’t so fortunate, consider thinking a bit outside the box and look at other ways to put money in your pocket and keep up with rent, mortgage or other regular expenses. You may find that the pandemic can create an opportunity for you to be less vulnerable to circumstances you can’t control.
It may even allow you to not only survive, but also to dream of a better life.
Peter
PANDEMIC TO PRODUCE CHANGES IN EDUCATION
#education #coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #teachers #students
It’s tough to go to school during a pandemic.
As a result, online learning at home has become not just popular, but necessary.
Education could change forever as a result.
Maureen Downey, education columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, writes that a college education is the most successful path to the middle class for students.
But going to college has changed during the pandemic, she writes in a column published Sept. 22, 2020.
She points out that every year, 500,000 high school students graduate in the top half of their classes, but don’t get a certificate or degree within eight years of graduation. She was quoting Anthony Carnevale, director of the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University. Carnevale conducted a virtual forum for the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education.
The pandemic-induced recession, leaving many parents with lost jobs etc., may present a problem for sending their kids to college.
In another issue, Downey, in a Sept. 29, 2020, column, posed the question: “Will COVID concerns cause more teachers to flee?”
She says that readers have sent her emails calling teachers “crybabies” for resigning, rather than risk bringing COVID-19 home to their families. She writes that some emails called teachers “un-American” for making their students wear masks in school.
What should we make of this? First, education has become a huge expense for both taxpayers and parents. If parents fear for the safety of their children, it’s no wonder they are opting to keep children at home. The opposite of that is also true. If parents don’t fear for the safety of their children, and encourage them to go to school and conduct themselves as if no pandemic existed, why not have schools open as usual?
If teachers don’t feel safe in school, why would they keep their jobs if forced to go to school? Is how little they get paid worth the risk? Certainly, most teachers want to be in school. They love it. It’s what they do. But they do not want to be there, in many cases, with a rapidly spreading disease running through the building.
Therefore, a potential teacher shortage, and a potential drop in public revenue from the recession, it’s likely some remote learning will take place in the normal course of life, once the pandemic is gone.
If college is your thing, or your child’s thing, how cool would it be if you, or your child, could take a course with Professor X in a faraway institution, and have teachers or graduate assistants grade the work at the institution to which you, or your child, have matriculated?
Finally, if college is not your thing, or if you or your family would have difficulty affording it, what if there were a way to become very successful, potentially make a great income and not have to go through the college experience? There are many such vehicles out there for those willing to check them out.
If you’d like to learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
In short, look for more permanent changes in education as a result of the pandemic. Don’t expect education, or life itself, to be entirely as it was prior to the pandemic. We are officially on guard. Don’t let that guard down. Expect a new normal, whatever that is. Roll with it.
Then, think about your own situation. What do you want from life? What are you willing to do to get it? Remember, as you ponder that, what was “secure” probably no longer is. You may have to think totally differently about your future.
Disease can, and will, change lives. Make your attitude such that you look at those changes as good, rather than bad.
Peter
REMOTE NO LONGER A REMOTE POSSIBILITY
#coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #RemoteWork #RemoteLearning #InternetProviders
We’re doing more things remotely these days.
We’re working remotely. We’re going to school remotely etc.
Most would rather not, but the pandemic has made it a way of life.
What if your Internet provider craps out on you for an extended period?
There’s no Plan B for that, unless you have data plans in your devices.
What if you’re in the middle of a virtual meeting, and, suddenly, everything freezes?
It may not be the provider’s fault. Road construction and other things can affect Internet access.
There are certain cost advantages to bundling phone, TV and Internet service. But all of them, in most cases, are dependent on the Internet. When the Internet goes down, they all go down.
And, when you’re stuck at home with no landline phone – yes, most of us have cellphones – TV or working computers, time surely passes slowly. Still, there is a positive here. It might encourage people to read more.
We also have the issue of limited Internet access, in general, in certain areas of the country – very rural and low-income urban areas come to mind.
What if we could make Internet service as universal, low-cost and essentially required as basic telephone service was decades ago? What if basic Internet service with reasonable speed were a public utility? That means costs would be regulated, providers would be required to make service available to all and have to get any rate changes approved by a governing body.
Certainly, providers would oppose that. If the providers don’t want that eventuality – and the pandemic has prompted people to think of that eventuality – they have to step up and provide essentially universal service, spreading the costs around in a reasonable fashion.
The pandemic has also given all of us time to think, especially when the Internet goes down.
Is your “old” life worth wanting back? Sure, we’d all like to get back into circulation, even back to work. But is that work giving you what you want from life?
If not, there are many programs that allow anyone, regardless of education, experience or background, to pursue their dreams part-time and, in many cases, provide an income that can dwarf what he or she is earning in the job they may not like. As a bonus, these programs can insulate you from the whims of employers, pandemics, economic ups and downs etc. You can even do these programs remotely, when your Internet is up and working.
To check out one of the best such programs, message me.
A few years ago, in Internet’s infancy, we thought of it as a luxury. Some even thought of it as an unnecessary monthly expense.
Today, life, as we know it, is online. The pandemic has emphasized that. The Internet is changing the way we do almost everything – some for the better, some, not so much.
Yet, we can’t live without it. We just need the providers to make it more universal, more reliable, more resistant to road construction and other outside forces and less costly.
Will these providers step up? Or, will other forces step in and force the issue?
We’ll all have to log in to find out.
Peter
HAPPY LABOR DAY!
#coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #LaborDay #EssentialWorkers
“The metro (Atlanta) area alone has about 300,000 workers in retail and sales jobs, 250,000 people doing food-related work, 16,000 police officers and 8,000 emergency medical technicians and dispatchers,” according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And, we take them for granted.
That was the main point in the Labor Day article by Michael E. Kanell, business and economics reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It was published Sept. 7, 2020.
“They have no choice. If your employer says, ‘Go back to work,’ you have to do it,” the article quotes Andrew Stettner, senior fellow at The Century Foundation, who has studied the labor market.
During the beginning of the pandemic, some of these workers were getting hazard pay. Much of that has ended, the article says.
Basically, these necessary workers who have to be out there regardless of the susceptibility to disease are overworked, underpaid and undervalued, the article points out. We might put school bus drivers in that category as well. They have lots of responsibility, but generally get paid very little.
Yes, as Kanell writes, Labor Day is a celebration of blue-collar labor. But as necessary as these folks are, many of the higher-paid white-collar workers got to work from home, protected from the pandemic.
And, these lower-paid, necessary workers also enjoy fewer benefits and protections in many places, Kanell writes.
“Each and every day going into work, you feel at risk,” Kanell quotes longtime supermarket worker Mary, who didn’t want to give her full name out of fear of retribution. “They make the schedule. And if you are on the schedule, you work,” the article quotes her.
Many of us can relate to hard work. Many of us can relate to having to go to work regardless of weather, job hazards etc. The pandemic adds a colossal risk to the workplace.
You could not only catch it yourself, but also spread it to anyone who lives with you or near you. Though you may not get noticeably sick, someone close to you, particularly if they have other underlying health problems, could catch the virus from you and get terribly ill – or die.
The pandemic gives new meaning to at-risk employee.
Still, many of those employees love their jobs. They want to help people, regardless of the conditions.
And, some employers, who may want to pay them more, simply cannot afford to. The traditional job market can be very unfair. Still, many of us have to work – period.
But what if there were something out there you could do that wouldn’t have to put you at risk, and paid you potentially a lot more than a risky job would? What if you didn’t need any significant education, experience or background to do it? What if you could do it around your current job, until it came time that you didn’t need your current job?
There are many such programs out there. To learn about one of the best, message me.
We are thankful that our essential workers are doing what they are doing for us, regardless of what may – or may not — be in it for them. All we can do is thank them, be nice to them – regardless of the encounter – and respect them.
They help us get the necessities of life, and some of them do not have the pandemic protections they should have. Many, like meat packers, HAVE to work shoulder-to-shoulder, and are at great risk of spreading disease.
Our lives depend on their labor. Happy Labor Day.
Peter
PANDEMIC CREATES FRUGALITY AMONG AMERICANS
#coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #spending #money
Americans are holding on to their money, even as the country gradually reopens, despite the pandemic.
A survey of 2,200 adults shows how COVID-19 has dramatically changed behavior among Americans, potentially for a long time.
So writes Tiffany Kary, in an article for Bloomberg News. It was also published July 5, 2020, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Americans have become more frugal, after many unexpectedly lost jobs as businesses shut down, the article says. That can be a good thing for individuals, many of whose saving habits have been less than stellar.
In fact, in a later article, the Atlanta newspaper reported that some people’s financial health has actually improved during the pandemic. That likely doesn’t apply to those who’ve been out of work for a time, but for those who have been working from home, they are not going to theaters, they are not going on vacation etc., in large numbers. Yes, entertaining yourself at home can have its rewards.
But if you are a small business owner whose profit comes with gathering, socializing in large groups, you are probably hurting. Even if you are allowed to open, there are only so many people you can have. Over time, that may not be profitable.
So, here are some raw numbers from Morning Consult in Kary’s article:
• 29 percent of Gen Z consumers, ages 18 to 24, are looking forward to returning to restaurants, with about one in four getting excited about concerts and movies. The younger folks are the most eager to get out and spend.
• In the past three months, 23 percent purchased more generic items.
• In the same period, 28 percent increased bulk purchases.
• 41 percent chose to save money more often by forgoing a purchase.
So, let’s break it down. People were stuck at home. That means they didn’t spend as much
as they normally would. If they were still earning money while at home, that put more in their pockets and allowed them to save more. That could hasten their purchase of a much-needed big-ticket item, or could jump-start their retirement savings.
If they lost their jobs, not spending became a necessity. If they are getting their jobs back, or getting new work as restrictions ease, they have some catching up to do. If their employer closed for good, these employees, after getting over the initial shock that their jobs are gone, now have a chance to try something new, should they be open enough to looking for it. .
Fortunately, there are many programs out there that allow people to do that. And, should they have to work from home, they can. But, they require a willingness to consider something they may never have thought they would do.
As a bonus, a person can take advantage of these programs AND still hold a traditional job, should he or she choose.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
So, have your new routines created newer habits for you? Has the confinement encouraged you to re-examine your life and change a few things?
For many it has. The “new” normal could be different for many. That may not be a bad thing.
Peter