2020 has been quite a year.
Almost every industry and aspect of how we work, learn, and communicate was turned upside down.
But, as different parts of the world begin opening up again, which trends will stick?
How will these experiences change and shape our lives for the better?
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This year, our work lives took a strange and sudden turn.
We went from spending the majority of our time at work to working from home.
And should we actually go back to the all-hands in-office model?
What we see is that technology is really a key enabler for this modern workplace.
If you want more social distance, you need more office space per employee.
Tech can help you with this, said Sander Schutte, founder, and CEO ofMapiq.
The new office will really be about sharing.
The Netherlands was really a forerunner in this key in of activity-based working.
People come to the office to collaborate and work together on complex problem-solving.
This is something that all offices will feel.
Commercial real estate, especially in major cities, is costly.
Not just for the space itself but heating, lighting, supplies, cleaning, etc.
What if, instead of cutting employee budgets, companies instead cut office space budgets?
This also brings forward the question of sustainability.
The combined effect of traveling less and maintaining fewer office spaces can lead to lower CO2 emissions.
But Schutte doesnt believe offices will close altogether.
You still need those serendipity moments.
The new role of the office will be a place to collaborate, connect, and socialize.
And this is no small thing.
Businesses were competing to attract the best hires with perks, pay, and cool company cultures.
In the US,over 40 million peoplelost their jobs.
In the Netherlands, the number of people filing forunemployment rose by 42%.
With businesses starting to reopen and sales rebounding, companies will need to begin the great rehiring process.
But the conditions will be completely different from the start of the year.
This means that lengthy recruitment processes could lose out on the best hires.
Keep in mind that we are living in a ratings economy.
With social distancing still high on the agenda for everyone, face to face interviews are out.
Meanwhile, working from home has also significantly reshaped the employee experience.
Weekly pulse surveys are very important to see how everyone is doing.
This allows employers to get a better understanding of how people are feeling.
He believes the trend towards remote working will continue on in the future.
This is a revolution that otherwise would have happened in ten years but it happened in ten days.
This has definitely been a pressure cooker.
Even businesses that were healthy and scaling could not have predicted and prepared for an event like this.
The problem for many is that applying for a bank loan is a lengthy, paper-intensive process.
Todays young agile SMEs and scaleups need a more agile solution.
Florynis a Fintech that provides business loans to SMEs.
Van Aerle explained:
Its really like a flexible credit line within a certain limit.
Floryns platform uses a combination of machine learning and humans to assess applications in a more granular way.
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At the same time, new initiatives began popping up online to help individuals and local businesses stay afloat.
One of the first challenges that needed to be tackled was limiting in-person contact as much as possible.
This meant escrow services to ensure payment and the ability to easily add shipping options became extremely important.
The introduction of escrow and shipping really allowed people to continue selling their second-hand goods at a distance.
They would sell goods online and receive a shipping label automatically which they could print off at home.
At the same time, its also not always a straightforward one buyer and one seller situation.
This brought on a more complicated dimension to the payment process.
During the lockdown, we saw a 300% increase in sales on our platform, Straver said.
EdTech helps guide students in the virtual classroom
Its not just businesses that have moved online.
The rise of EdTech tools aimed at promoting self-guided learning was already picking up speed.
During the lockdown, it became a necessity.
Amsterdam-based ed-tech startupWizenozeis making this process a lot easier.
Ever since the outbreak, Wizenoze has seen a 300% increase in usage across the globe.
