Friday, May 08, 2020

Coronavirus News (84)

The Post-crisis World: What Changes Are Coming? The coronavirus pandemic has infected millions across the globe, upended markets and completely altered the business landscape as we know it. ....... “This is a really nasty virus. It’s a smart virus” ....... “dozens and dozens of companies are working against a common enemy…. It’s a bit of a combination between a moon shot and an Apollo shot, because what usually takes five to seven years is now being [attempted] by multiple companies … in five to seven months.” ........ Developing an antibody test kit for home use is “the holy grail,” Gorsky noted. “The challenge right now is we don’t exactly know the level of neutralizing antibodies that gives you protection against the virus.” ........... an impatience among people to return to the way things were before the pandemic. ....... Gorsky called for

“a global public health system”

with the requisite capabilities and resilience, noting that it will be essential “for national security, economic security and many other aspects of our society.” ....... “every business leader in some way is going to be a health care leader going forward” ........ whether a lack of worker proximity or “density” will lead to lower productivity and innovation in a place like Silicon Valley. ......... Engineers actually prefer this kind of environment ....... I don’t think we’re ever going back to the old version of the office because why do we need to? If productivity is at a high level and innovation continues, I don’t think that you have to be in the company of a lot of other people ........ I’m not sure we need to have the same kind of offices that we’ve had in the past. ...... Predictions for an economic recovery have ranged from a so-called V shape, which is a sharp dip followed by an equally sharp recovery; and a U, representing a longer recession followed by a gradual recovery; to an L, where the economy stays flat at a depressed level for a long time. Rowan predicted a “swoosh” or an extended U, suggesting a longer wait for a full recovery. ........ The Federal Reserve and the Treasury deserve “very high marks, first for speed – much faster than 2008 – and second, for size” .... “To a large extent … they have taken the worst case off of the table” .......

a Main Street issue.

........... landlords collect about $130 billion a month from their residential and commercial tenants. ....... Missed rent payments have a cascading effect. “When a tenant does not pay a landlord, the landlord does not pay local real estate tax, local utilities or their mortgage,” Rowan said. “Those mortgages are held by community banks. The scale of this is really troublesome.” ........ instead of relying on banks, large businesses borrow directly from the capital markets. Their needs have been taken care of by the Fed and Treasury, which “have absolutely opened the capital markets for any solvent, creditworthy borrower.” ........ the 30 million small businesses that will never be good borrowers, who had a month’s worth of cash on hand or two months’ worth of cash on hand ........

starting a business in a bad economy is a great idea because it lowers your cost of doing everything.







From Apocalypse to Supernova: How the Pandemic Is Changing U.S. Retail If the last several years have been an apocalypse for American retail, the last few months of the coronavirus pandemic can be characterized as a supernova. Stores have shuttered, the supply chain has broken, and shoppers have radically changed their buying habits during weeks of lockdown to stem the spread of COVID-19. ....... sales of clothing and accessories falling by more than 50% ....... because of widespread closures, stay-at-home orders and crushing job losses that kept many Americans from buying anything beyond essentials. ........

this is a long-running catastrophic event whose effects are just beginning to be evident and whose outcome we can’t foretell in any way

........ retail is in a period of “creative destruction” ........ “The effect of the pandemic is to accelerate the demise of retailers that had lost their way and that people no longer had a reason to [visit]. .......... Cashless purchasing has been around for years, but it has soared in recent weeks as customers and store clerks seek contactless transactions. ......... the post-recession era, which saw the emergence of digital-first brands such as Warby Parker ....... “A lot of people are talking about the death of the department store. I predict the death of bad department stores” ........

a quick recovery isn’t likely

......... A W-shaped recovery would be the worst-case scenario. It’s also the most likely because public health experts are warning of a second wave of the virus, or even a third, before a successful vaccine is developed. ......... The global supply chain has been disrupted as sellers cancel orders, vendors go unpaid and factories idle. Retailers of nonessential goods now have a glut of merchandise that isn’t moving. ......... stores should continuing doing what they have been doing since the start of the pandemic: canceling orders, renegotiating rent, restructuring debt and re-envisioning their stores. ........ If a customer tries on a garment, does that piece of clothing stay off the rack for a certain amount of time for disinfection? .......... some stores can help offset these concerns through greater use of buy online/pick up in store and curbside delivery, strategies that have proven effective during the pandemic. And for companies that haven’t perfected their omnichannel approach – a seamless integration of digital and physical shopping – now is the time. ............ company executives should pinpoint two dates on the calendar: one for a near-term reopening, and a second for the end of the pandemic, perhaps in 2022. ......... “This crisis accelerates the failure of businesses that were struggling going into it. ......... Online sales have skyrocketed during the lockdowns, as much as 74% in some categories. ......

no seller that has benefited more than Amazon.

.........

can be happier with less

. .......... “We’re going to be faced with an inordinate amount of really cheap stuff, so there is going to be this orgiastic response to that.” ......... it’s the innovative players that come along in these turbulent times who change things and succeed



Working from Home: Navigating the Pandemic’s New Normal “I’ve had many meetings where my kids walk behind me and get a snack out of the cabinet,” she said. “It doesn’t bother me.” ...... a self-described “integrator,” a term she uses for people who don’t mind blurring the boundary between work and home. ......... Integrators are the opposite of segmentors – people who have a strong desire to separate business from personal life. When segmentors work from home, they don’t lounge around in their yoga pants all day. They like to get dressed with a purpose and sit down to work in a dedicated space, such as a home office, preferably with a door that can help keep out dogs, cats, kids and spouses. ..........

83% of businesses offer, or are planning to offer, remote work. Yet less than a quarter of all full- and part-time employees worked from home in 2018

........ employees who have been able to migrate seamlessly from the office to the home are those “lucky enough to do knowledge work.” ......... Many in white-collar fields such as finance, technology, education, science, engineering and design are using Slack, Zoom, WebEx, Microsoft Teams and other software to stay easily connected to each other and to clients.

Blue-collar workers don’t have that luxury

...... People who don’t have high-speed internet in their homes are experiencing this in terms of the public school crisis ........ Some companies that haven’t been too keen on flexible work have been forced into it by the pandemic ....... Those managers have a perennial concern that out-of-sight employees are also out of mind, taking a nap or doing laundry or watching TV during work-from-home hours because nobody is watching them. .......... be crystal clear about expectations of employees who work remotely. What are the daily or weekly goals? What are the deadlines? How often should they check in via video, email or phone? ......... Some remote employees want even more flexibility by not sticking to a strict 9-to-5 schedule. Perhaps they want to work for four hours in the morning, take a long break in the afternoon, then work another four hours at night. ......... But teleworkers also report feeling lonely and losing the sense of camaraderie and team work that comes from being in an office, where hallway chats and impromptu meet-ups can spark creativity and innovation.



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