With all of today’s massive issues brought on by the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak, companies around the world are rapidly undergoing huge transformations, resulting in significant economic shifts in all fields of business. Under the influence of serious restrictive measures imposed by governments in all countries around the globe, a large percentage of businesses shifted their attention from striving for success to confronting harsh reality, resulting in even more ambivalent outcomes, both for organizational effectiveness and all employees. However, these changes do not necessarily have to be completely negative; while they have created a worldwide economic collapse, they have also marked the revolutionary beginning of global digitization, which has drastically altered the concept of remote work in a huge proportion of global enterprises.
The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic for remote employees
According to data acquired by a World Bank firm in 2021, up to a quarter of the world’s businesses witnessed a 50 percent reduction in revenue, with 65 percent of businesses cutting employee pay, and 11 percent of businesses having to lay off their workers in general. Furthermore, 34 percent of companies found rescue by transforming their in-person businesses into internet sensations, focusing on digital media success through the use of online platforms and social media resources. This turnaround in the industry has allowed a big number of remote employees to transfer their expertise and abilities from traditional offices, to the arena of the digital world, paving the way for the brighter future of the world’s economy. Perhaps the most significant impact of Covid-19 on the world’s economic development has been felt exactly by remote workers around the world, who have seen a significant increase in businesses moving their offices to online networks. This resulted in a 40 percent increase in the number of employees who work from home. Before the pandemic, the number of individuals working from home was also exceptionally high, but it was largely centered on white-collar employees. This condition radically shifted after the epidemic, opening up internet platforms to all other areas of interest as well.
Companies that rely mostly on telecommuting, administration, advertising, and freelance work, saw the most growth in remote employment. But the argument for remote employees is rather shifting substantially before and after the epidemic, according to a 2020 research by The Conference Board, with just 12% of surveyed organizations in the US job market indicating they intended to recruit virtual workers regardless of where they live. In post-pandemic time, this figure jumped to 36%, where the increase of interest in hiring virtual workers greatly assisted in the preservation of employment and the continuation of economic output.
It’s important to keep in mind that remote work had many advantages for its employees both before and after the pandemic, including flexible working hours, stimulating payments, reduced workplace stress, total location independence, the opportunity for a happier and more fulfilling private life, and increased productivity and overall motivation. Although the global pandemic should not be the sole cause of the rise of remote workers, it did have a significant impact on the development of this sector of the business, providing a glimmer of hope for the global economy and making it much easier for people all over the world to cope with the issues and stress of modern living.
The need for successful knowledge management
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the growth of remote work, but this concept also required some additional support and improvements, such as having safe and reliable knowledge management for each business, which would enhance their work and provide optimal results, both economically and professionally. Many organizations have realized that to be successful in the face of a worldwide pandemic, they must provide an accurate and consistent knowledge management system that allows their staff a great deal of flexibility and steadiness. This strategy generally entails establishing a successful internal knowledge base, which has several advantages for the company’s growth. But the benefit of an internal knowledge base extends well beyond providing accurate information and up-to-date knowledge on any structural changes inside the organization to full-time remote workers. Due to the global pandemic, many employees were forced to resign from their virtual employment for medical reasons, whether they had been infected with the coronavirus or had to cope with infected family members. As a result, businesses had to put in extra effort to bridge organizational gaps by acquiring personnel from other departments. As a result, it was inevitable to create an efficient internal knowledge base to reduce the amount of time spent on onboarding processes.
The benefit of having an internal knowledge base during the Covid-19 pandemic
With an internal knowledge base that provides easy-to-find information and know-how data that can guide them through client engagements, organizations will also need to ensure that their self-service solutions can truly empower them with the same knowledge and expertise. This guarantees remote employees to have steady jobs, making their work less stressful, more productive, flexible, and ultimately more profitable. COVID-19 has demonstrated the value of technology innovation in enabling work flexibility across various platforms and despite physical placement. During the epidemic, an internal information base was a particularly important solution for improving pandemic response across the corporate sector, administrations, and healthcare institutions. As a conclusion, we can infer that knowledge management has a substantial impact and that an internal knowledge base may lead to considerably positive economic results and assured success for organizations throughout the world, both with and without the pandemic.
