Stay-at-home orders, also known as movement control orders, shelter-in-place orders, round-the-clock curfews, or lockdowns, are in effect across the world. Stay-at-home orders aim to restrict or control population movement and slow the spread of pandemics. These government-enforced measures is a mass quarantine strategy for suppressing or mitigating epidemics or pandemics. Today, stay-at-home orders aim to flatten the curve and reduce daily cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
As millions of people stay at home, factories have closed, and businesses have shut down. Entire parts of the United States economy are at a complete standstill. According to the New York Times, more than 96% of the U.S. is currently under stay-at-home orders or requests. When will stay-at-home orders be lifted? Some restrictions will expire by the end of April; others will last through May 2020. Some controls are open-ended.
Brace for Recession
As humanity fights COVID-19, businesses must anticipate an upcoming recession. COVID-19 is a health crisis that will create a global recession. Consumers will buy less, and companies will produce less. People will lose their savings, and businesses will lose revenue.
China's economy or gross domestic product (GDP) is down. China's GDP shrank 6.8% in the first three months of 2020 compared with a year earlier.
The economy will enter a recession after two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. The United States government will release the first-quarter GDP at the end of April and second-quarter data in July 2020. The official verdict for recession is unclear. Many economists are predicting double-digit declines in GDP growth in the second quarter of the year.
The most significant quarterly decline for annualized GDP was in 1950, and that was 10 percent. Most estimates now are for well over 10 percent. This recession will be the worst the world has seen.
Adapt to Changing Consumer Habits
As stay-at-home orders are in effect, consumers change their mobility habits. As travel or population movement restrictions restrict mobility, consumers change their daily routines. Consumers increase e-commerce spending.
As people practice physical distancing, people are finding human connection and connect in new ways through video. Due to remote work, people are embracing a more flexible work schedule. Countries and industries most impacted by coronavirus are turning to mobile to connect with their teams.
Shift Employees To Remote Work, Where Possible
As consumers stay at home to slow the spread, they work from home and travel less. Companies are following suit by embracing telecommuting and remote work arrangements. Employees should work from home where possible. Front-line-workers are the exception to remote work.
Lay Off Employees, Where Necessary
Industries like retail, restaurants, air travel, and hotels have already laid off thousands of workers, and business has stopped. Every company must evaluate its operations and determine what's essential and what's not. Laying off employees is sometimes the only path forward.
Leverage Remote Tools
Remote work means using remote software. Here is a simple checklist for must-have remote tools:
Do you use a team messaging app? Slack
Do you use a voice messaging app? Yac
Do you use an app or plugin for checking daily work items or standups? Dailybot, Standuply
Do you use an app or plugin for marking TODOs on teammates? TaskOnBot (Slack Bot)
Do you use a calendar scheduling app? Calendly
Do you use an app for file storage or sharing? Google Drive, Dropbox, WeTransfer
Do you use any productivity app or timer? Forest, any Pomodoro timer
Brace For Supply Shock and Dwindling Demand
One March survey found U.S. companies reported the steepest downturn in economic activity since 2009. Due to COVID-19, both the services and manufacturing sectors of the economy tumbled. Some companies are suffering from a supply shock after China shut down factories earlier this year because of the coronavirus. Now the U.S. economy is also suffering from a lack of demand as consumers stay home. As the consumer demand drops, so does the price of oil, which is near it's the lowest level in nearly two decades.
Take Bold Action
No one knows how long the coronavirus recession will last and how quickly the U.S. and the global economy will recover. Many agree that the first step on the road to recovery is the containment of the coronavirus. Businesses cannot wait for this to happen. Companies must implement bold action plans today! In light of COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, executives and decision-makers from all industries must act swiftly.
Amidst stay-at-home orders, how are you dealing with COVID-19?