While we debate what the new normal will be when we all return to work after the pandemic is finally wrestled to the ground, a new question is starting to be asked: will there actually be a job to return to?
It is more than a choice between working from an office or from home, there is a strong possibility that many pre-pandemic jobs will simply no longer exist as the economy found ways to fill those positions with technology during the lockdown.
A report by TD Canada Trust notes the economy’s remarkable rebound so far was, in part, helped by digitization and technology. Many of us were able to work from home because of technology, for example.
That made it helpful in preserving jobs but, on the other side of the coin, Ecommerce doubled due to COVID and 80% of those how made their first-ever on-line purchase plan to keep it up after COVID. That could spell trouble for employment in retail and service jobs.
Firms delivering services also employed technology as they tried to pivot and continue meeting customer needs without being able to meet them face-to-face.
