Starting in 2020, the worldwide pandemic has changed the ways we communicate, work, and do our daily duties. Meaning, it all went online. People found new comfort in working from their homes, having more free time on their hands they would otherwise spend on dressing up and commuting.

At the same time, COVID-19 disrupted labor markets globally. Millions of people were furloughed or lost jobs, and others rapidly adjusted to working from home as offices closed. Many other workers were deemed essential and continued to work in hospitals and grocery stores, yet they shifted to new workplace regulations aimed at reducing the spread of the novel coronavirus.

According to the Future Of Work After Covid-19 report by Mckinsey & Company, the pandemic pushed companies and consumers to rapidly adopt new behaviors that are likely to stick. “Considering only remote work that can be done without a loss of productivity, we find that about 20 to 25 percent of the workforces in advanced economies could work from home between three and five days a week,” the report states. This represents four to five times more remote work than before the pandemic. Experts forecast that this new trend could prompt a large change in the geography of work, when individuals and companies move out of large cities into suburbs and small cities.

Another big change initiated by the pandemic is the e-commerce boom, which has grown two to five times faster than before the pandemic. Many consumers discovered the convenience of e-commerce and other online activities during the pandemic. Moreover, there was also a boom in virtual transactions such as telemedicine, online banking, and online streaming services.