The
world was affected by the corona virus in December 2019 and till now efforts
are being made to cope socially and economically and every country and economy
is going through different kinds of experiences in order to continue on its
own. In this situation, the economies of all those countries that have
experimented with online working while sitting at home have been successful. An
example is Hong Kong, where the "Cheung Kong Center" is one of the
best buildings there. The 66-story building is the third tallest building in
Hong Kong and houses, among other offices, Cheung Kong Holdings and some other
multinational corporations. There are also offices, but for some time these and
other high-rise buildings, some quarters of which are vacant, and many expensive
commercial areas of the city are lying vacant. A number of factors are
affecting Hong Kong at the moment, causing difficulties for companies that used
the city as a hub for their operations in the country. In other parts of the
world, like America, the corona virus has been controlled with the help of a
vaccine, but despite this, the situation there is not ideal. It was predicted
that people would return to work in offices in large numbers after the end of
Corona, but these predictions proved wrong. According to recent statistics
about the area called Manhattan in the famous American city of New York, the
number of people traveling by air and participating in sports competitions has
reached the same number as before Corona, but the offices are still largely
empty "Manhattan". Out of the total number of people working in
offices, only 40 to 50 percent of people come to work in offices, which means
that there are less people traveling in the transport than the subway. The
system is a source of revenue for the city, and the situation is so bad that
New York Mayor Eric Adams is considering permanently converting all the vacant
offices in the city into affordable housing, while tech giants like Facebook
and Amazon. The companies that wanted to buy the offices at the beginning of
Corona have changed their strategy and are now trying to sell such places. In
the same way, in the city of San Francisco of America, there are the main
offices of many big companies and the situation there is even worse. According
to a recent report in the New York Times, the city's downtown has been deserted
due to layoffs and work-from-home permits. Lack of employees means less people
using civic services, which means the income of public and private institutions
has decreased. Like Hong Kong's Cheung Kong Center, the newly constructed
Salesforce Tower is partially empty because the company also works from home.
The changing trends in office usage indicate that a big change is on the way,
although Pakistani witnesses working in local institutions may not immediately
notice any changes and may not immediately have the convenience of working from
home. However, the cost savings of working from home may have influenced the
way new companies operate. Hierarchical model of managerial positions in
Pakistan may have lasted longer than in other regions of the world, but the
advantages of low cost will eliminate the mentality that results in a manager
wanting to see employees in front of him in the office. Another shift in the
market is likely, one of the reasons big tech companies have laid off people in
large numbers in recent months is that they are embracing the "work from
home" model. In this way, those companies can also hire people from abroad
for content moderation and other such tasks. Those who go abroad not only have
to migrate themselves, but their families also have to go through this process,
have to deal with work visa limitations and other difficulties, but if you work
from home, the trend of emigration will be much less. Yes, doctors have to be
present at the workplace, but apart from them, perhaps people from the
financial sector, engineering and technology sectors can work abroad even while
living in their own country, ending support for immigration in Western
countries. This new form of using the services of foreign citizens at a low
cost can be the best solution for everyone. Those Pakistanis who are currently
choosing their careers and are about to take future decisions should keep in
mind the changing trends if the goal of migration to a foreign country is to
take up the field of medicine or any similar profession. Regardless of where
you want to be, if one wants to take advantage of the work-from-home
opportunities that will emerge in other fields, it is important to know that Slack
and other similar online work-related conveniences are available. Using they
can become part of global teams according to their ability, it is time to guide
the youth at the government level and inform them about the online job market
which will be a permanent way of working.