It didn’t matter where you were and what you were doing in the dreadful first quarter of 2020. The turn of the new decade was one of the most unpleasant moments in world history. People were greeted with natural and man-made disasters, international conflicts, and political destabilization, truly a disastrous start to the new year. However, one of the most impactful events in humanity’s history came at the end stages of the first quarter.
Nearly every country recognized that the highly contagious coronavirus disease dubbed Covid-19 is a severe and irrepressible threat. As the infected and death cases pile up, national governments impose lockdowns and quarantines to keep their constituents safe. Even with those measures, humanity continues to suffer. It truly is a global crisis as various internationally recognized health organizations declared Covid-19 a pandemic.
No areas severely suffered from the effects of the pandemic than education and business. Younger generations saw their academic journey hit an immediate stop, with educational establishments tagged as public areas where the virus can spread. For businesses, the implications were even more consequential. Without on-site operations and people shopping in retail stores, the financial losses were massive enough to disrupt the economy.
Businesses were shutting down left and right, with those managing to avoid bankruptcy and closure requiring widespread employee retrenchment and pay cuts. Yelp’s report saw over 160,000 small enterprises out of business, and 60% of those are permanent. The initial stages of the Covid-19 pandemic were an unpleasant experience for students, business owners, and employees alike. However, humanity survived many epidemics and pandemics in the past that we can deploy as many strategies as we can to recover. And this time, we have digital technology to assist us.
Digital Technology in Education and Business
Education and business are two of the primary benefactors of digital technology. Both areas must pursue continuity for the improvement of humanity, even amid a global crisis. It didn’t take long for academic institutions to realize that online classes offered an effective alternative to traditional classroom setups. The adjustment using digital means allows students to continue pursuing education. Online classes act as the savior of education during this troubling time, but what about businesses?
In 2021, businesses started to recover after countless adjustments and innovations. Among them are remote work setups and digitalization, two things we can call the saviors of businesses amid the pandemic. Outsourcing and offshoring solutions are also part of that elite company, but the benefits they provide companies go beyond business continuity and recovery.
The Movement to Remote Work Setups
It is evidently clear that the first step towards health and safety amid the global crisis is shutting down business establishments. Industrial plants, business headquarters, offices, and retail stores simply do not have the social distancing protocols necessary to keep people safe. Even if restrictions relax in many countries with a drop-off in Covid-19 cases, on-site establishments remain publicly crowded spaces that could become a source of contagion. The safest place for people to work remains in their homes.
Similar to how academic institutions pursued online classes, businesses had to let employees stay at home and work. However, it wasn’t an easy adjustment. Work-from-home setups are not like online class adjustments where any computer or laptop can work. Companies have standards when it comes to equipment and tools for operations. Unfortunately, those things are in on-site establishments. To continue operations remotely, businesses had to deliver those assets to employees’ homes or risk letting them go to waste in offices.
While most companies managed to adjust to remote work setups, some businesses continue to pursue traditional methods for several business functions. Despite digital technology being available, businesses failed to prioritize digitalization because they weren’t expecting the pandemic. Nobody was. Those ventures had it rough, pursuing digital transformation out of desperation to stay alive amid the global crisis. The benefits of incorporating digital technology in every function possible became necessities. Some operational procedures, like accounting and marketing, adapted to fully digital.
However, lessening and saving costs drove those businesses to employee retrenchment first, posing a complicated problem for adjusting to remote work setups and digitalization.
Recovering from Mass Employee Entrenchment
Business adjustments for the pandemic were an unpleasant experience for both business owners and employees. Financial management is such an essential part of businesses staying afloat amid the pandemic. So much so that companies were left with no choice but to compromise on the most significant business expenses they have: employees.
Employee salaries and compensation take up more than half of a company’s budget, and deservedly so. A company’s workers are its most valuable assets, capable of turning the tides into the venture’s favor when all else fails. For the pandemic, however, companies had to let go of plenty of employees just to keep operations running at a minimal level.
Digital technology might be a cost-efficient strategy, but business recovery can only happen when you can begin to recruit more employees and enhance your business operations. Unfortunately, hiring or rehiring personnel remains a costly endeavor.
Businesses needed an alternative, one that kept them away from the usual costs of in-house recruitment strategies. Then, it dawned on them. Remote work setups are achievable and cost-efficient, so why not pursue business recovery in the same way that saved their ventures? The coronavirus threat isn’t truly over because variants continue to threaten employees’ lives. Businesses embraced digitalization and remote work setups to the point that they are willing to continue most business operations in digital spaces. This situation marked the dawn of the outsourcing and offshoring era.
Outsourcing and Offshoring Companies Saving Businesses
Outsourcing and offshoring are two business solutions that exist even before the pandemic. Both services provide task and operation completions for significantly lesser costs. Those business solutions involve entrusting the function you outsource or offshore to an outside vendor. Outsourcing and offshoring have their differences, but both aim to solve cost-related problems that their clients experience. Since business finances factor well into the recovery strategies of struggling businesses, outsourcing and offshoring solutions provide significant relief amid the pandemic.
As the world grows more digital, many businesses see the benefits that outsourcing and offshoring solutions provide. Cost-saving is the most significant feature both solutions boast, but it is far from the only thing beneficial for your company. Outsourcing and offshoring usually involve partnering with service providers from countries with low-cost economies, attracting talented foreign employees with significantly cheaper labor costs compared to your local talent market. All connections between outsourced personnel and offshore teams will be remote, paving the way for your company’s journey towards digitalization.
IT Outsourcing: The Start of the Remote Work Era
Digitalization itself relies on businesses incorporating digital tools and programs, jumpstarting the transformation journey. Those advancements ensure fewer disruptions for business operations, allowing productivity and efficiency amid the pandemic. As a result, IT developers and specialists became in-demand professionals critical to business improvement and digitalization.
IT is among the most outsourced business functions in the world, with its global market value reaching a massive USD 520.74 billion. Businesses pursuing digitalization of operations and remote work setups will find that they need the IT professionals themselves. Unfortunately, the high demand makes local talent expensive and difficult to recruit. Outsourcing and offshoring companies provide the same talent quality but for a lower price.
Most companies have different business functions to prioritize. Accounting, digital marketing, customer service, and human resources usually fall under the departments that businesses might want to outsource. However, outsourced personnel will rely on digital programs and applications that fall under the clients’ standards, making it necessary for ventures seeking offshoring and outsourcing solutions to pursue IT first.
Will Outsourcing and Offshoring Still Have Its Place in a Post-Pandemic World?
Outsourcing and offshoring are saviors of businesses amid the Covid-19 pandemic. However, humanity is slowly on its way to recovery. Despite the discoveries of multiple coronavirus variants, Covid-19 vaccines remain effective in protecting people from severe symptoms and death. Social distancing protocols are now part of the business establishment layouts. Human resources now have plans and strategies to help employees stricken with the coronavirus.
All signs point towards humanity beating the pandemic, but it doesn’t mean Covid-19 will be gone. The virus will remain a threat, albeit similar to the diseases we’ve bested in the past. Does that mean that we can all go back to the way we conducted business before?
Business owners should take the pandemic as a valuable experience. The world changed. Instead of going back to what worked, we can focus our attention on what we can do better. Outsourcing and offshoring solutions are saviors of businesses amid the pandemic, and they can also be an established part of business operations for years to come.
Knowing how outsourcing and offshoring solutions can help your business recover and thrive, why not get it for your business? If any part of your business operations requires the move to digitalization or remote work setup, partnering with iSupport Worldwide provides the most efficient path. You can get your offshore team in as fast as 30 days for 70% less the cost.
About Us
iSupport Worldwide is a US-based offshoring company with 15 years of solid experience and success in the industry. This 2021, we are honored to be part of the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America. If you want to follow our journey to the top or seek a beneficial partnership, you can follow and connect with us at these sites:
Website: www.isupportworldwide.com
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