Saturday 5 September 2020

Coronavirus diary, Saturday 6 September


Getting back to work is vital after nearly six months that has almost bankrupted Britain. 

Thousands of threatened businesses have been kept afloat and the jobs of their four million employees saved, at least temporarily, by the government's furlough scheme that has met 80 percent of their wages.

It remains to be seen what the effect will be when it ends in October but the already steady stream of job losses may well become a torrent.

Despite the government's back to the office campaign the response so far has been disappointing. 

Not surprising as it is nowhere near as simple as they had hoped. 

Working from home has proved efficient and popular with many companies and organisations, including some of the largest in the country with thousands of employees that are extending it into next year.

This raises the prospect, as I have suggested, of the pandemic leading to fundamental changes, including working practices.

The assumption that the office and commuting tradition will disappear, with most people working from home, is almost certainly wrong.

For some occupations and businesses, home working will be the answer. 

The old Express building, Fleet Street

Take the press. For many years its national hub and driving force was the world renowned Fleet Street, home of many papers like the Daily Express with its grandiose building, where hundreds of very skilled employees produced the daily paper

My early experience could not have been more modest

The Penarth Times had just five people producing  the weekly edition, editor, printer, linotype operator and me, the reporter.

We worked from an office, the pompously named Times House.

No possibility of working from home in those days. 

Communication was crude, few had phones. Reporters had to get out and about.

If we wanted to include photographs I had to go into Cardiff to get the blocks made at the Western Mail printing works. 

The Times office is long gone, part of the newspaper revolution that saw Fleet Street disappear, replaced by new up to date premises.

That continues, but not for long, as the era of producing millions of copies a day is ending. Most of the traditional crafts, typesetting, printing and sub editing have gone.

The style of reporting, communications and system of newspaper production has changed. The restrictions of coronavirus have led to a total rethink. Almost all columnists and reporters have been working from home and this will continue. It saves time and money.

Post pandemic, this will surely apply to many other types of business  including finance, insurance and sales.

The internet provides an easy way to start a home based business; young entrepreneurs have made fortunes.

What will happen to all those vast offices with the thousands of employees?

Already many of the big names plan to abandon their  prestigious national and international headquarters and let their staff work from home. Others  envisage using offices as meeting hubs.

The good news is that millions will be spared the misery and cost of commuting, which will remain a coronavirus threat; the bad news is the loss of trade for city centre shops, pubs and cafe, but this will be offset by other other ideas to revive the 'ghost centres'.

The future need not be as gloomy as many fear but it will need better, firmer government than we are now seeing.

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