Will Things Ever Go Back To Normal?

I know what you are thinking, another thinkpiece about COVID-19 and its lasting effect on our lives. Well, guess what? You are right! If you think back to the beginning of this year, it almost feels that it took place in a different timeline. In the wake of COVID-19, organizations, their structures, and their means of communication have been drastically changed.

Already existing programs and applications that allowed for remote work and communication saw an increase in their usage and importance to complete tasks. This resulted in current technologies being improved to fit this new workplace standard and others coming in to fill that role.

The speed at which technology changes and evolves significantly increases over time. Even looking at the start of the last two decades, the technology we had at the start of 2000 and 2010 rapidly changed by the end of each decade. Now, it seems as if the technology is plateauing and is instead becoming more accessible to more people. 

When the lockdowns began in late March, businesses, organizations, and schools had to adapt quickly to make use of technology in order to continue. There were many sentiments on social media expressing how a lot of jobs could be done remotely and that when things finally return back to normal (if that is even possible) the way jobs are done will be different. 

In the midst of a global pandemic that is also affecting the economy, the job market for recent graduates is going to be tough. The uncertainty of the future makes it difficult for current and graduating students in this major to have a positive outlook when everything is looking so unpredictable. It is hard for students to find any solid advice in this situation because it is so unprecedented. 

A global pandemic that could be followed by a recession? What are we supposed to do to find ourselves out of this situation?

For classrooms, the general consensus is that it is more beneficial for a learning environment to take place in-person. After all, it is more natural that way. But who knows? With the current almost completely online semester in place, the standard for online classes may shift away from asynchronous to synchronous once things return to normal.

In workplaces, the stereotypical office culture was displaced and most works took place remotely. When the workplace returns, the office culture might be drastically changed. Like with everything mentioned so far, will things really turn back to normal?

I do not want to be overly hopeful but also not blissfully ignorant in the matter, but I think normalcy has been drastically changed. Maybe forever. It is difficult to predict the future when we are currently living in uncertain times. On the bright side, we are not alone and can help each other.