2020- The year that was
Throwback to 2019
Circa 2019 Global Economy was booming, stock markets and brent crude oil prices were high and people were leading a normal life. Countries like China which was growing at 6.3% and India with 7.4% growth were indicators of the direction that global economy was taking.
Both traditional sectors like Financial Services, and Automobile as well as emerging industries like Online Commerce, Media and mCommerce were growing in their respective fields.
Easy access to capital and a fast-growing economy that was generating employment was contributing to the growth of all the major economies of the world. In countries like US, the unemployment rate was negligible. That was what was the new normal.
But what if there is no climax in life? Here comes the climax, the year 2020!
Onset of 2020
Towards the end of 2019 some indications of what was happening in China was emerging, but there was no indication of what was to happen in just a couple of month time.
Starting of the Global Pandemic (COVID-19)
The first reports of COVID-19 cases were reported in China around December 2019. The initial reaction to the outbreak was varied at best, some countries imposing immediate lockdowns while others continuing to do busi8ness as usual with little safeguards.
It was January 19, 2020 when the USA got its first COVID-19 patient and the journey of this global pandemic started. The initial outbreak was virus gradual but then it became a full-blown pandemic in a very short time.
How was the Global Economy affected?
As per IMF (International Monetary Fund), the world economy will shrink about almost 3% in the year 2020. This shrink is the steepest after the last one which was in 1930. Covid-19 has shaken the world economy badly.
To control the outbreak countries have imposed various restriction on travel, gathering in public places and corporations are adopting mandatory work from home practices. But with ravel restriction and lockdown two industries were badly impacted, high street retail and aviation.
Effect of the Global Pandemic on the different sectors worldwide
Some sectors like Online Education, Financial Services, and Healthcare have very well adopted the concept of Work From Home, Learn From Home and Earn From Home. These sectors have been able to adopt to the changing market dynamics by taking advantage of the technology developments in areas like Digital Payments and TeleHealth.
By understanding the market needs of virtual learning and contact-less delivery of goods these sectors have gained access to an untapped market. This Pandemic has worked as an accelerant for various Technology-Driven industries.
Technology sector can now permanently shift their workforce to a more digital, cloud-based, automation-driven and cost-efficient platform.
How can we forget about the Entertainment and Gaming industries when talking about these developments? These are the two sectors which have created a substantial user base during the Lockdown. Just look at the exponential growth that streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime! They saw the global risk coming but instead of creating chaos and confusion, they created an opportunity.
How is The Service Triangle coping up with this present scenario?
While COVID-19 has well demonstrated the importance of digital readiness, the employees customers and the companies still need to adapt some measures to support reinvention rather than reopening. Some of these measures which we need to restructure ourselves for the beginning of this new digital era are:
- Distributed workforce is the new norm, hierarchal and linear organizations will fade away and remote working will not be an option but a must have.
- Bots and AI-driven tech are very much in play and should be introduced extensively.
- Business models and companies’ policies should be redesigned keeping in view Cyber Security, Automation and Hybrid Technology.
2021- The future Ahead
Tough times will go and normal days will be back soon. But this pandemic has taught us quite a few things, from deer walking the city street and record low level of pollution, to a completely remote work force.
The good part is that technology has made it a bit easier by transforming our vision about how we used to look at a Digital driven economy.
So, it is not about Re-Starting the companies but this time it is about Re-Establishing them with an altogether new vision and new reforms. Opportunities are never-ending. Just a vision is needed to grasp them all! In fact, this global resilience has taught people the power of technology.
