Ex-IBM CEO says remote work is here to stay although Zoom stock dips on Vaccine news 🌏
Pfizer announced positive results from its potential Covid19 vaccine on Monday with >90% efficacy in patients. This coupled with the news of Joe Biden's election caused the stock markets to move up.
However, stocks of Zoom, Amazon & Netflix took a sharp dip on the same day with Zoom closing 18% lower (25% dip in 2 days)! Many supporters of in-office work took to social media saying this indicates popular sentiment that remote work won't stay after the launch of a vaccine.
'We will go back to our earlier ways of working' couldn't be further from the truth. Former IBM CEO, Ginnit Rometty, believes the same and said that remote work is here to stay even after the pandemic.
Here's why the shift to remote work is permanent:
Remote work is fundamentally a technology trend
Remote working isn't new and was primarily driven by advances in technology & tools before 2020. The pandemic just gave it a huge push fast forwarding what would happen a decade later to just a matter of days.
"I don’t think these technology trends are going to reverse themselves", said Rometty.
Rightly so. And this doesn't just apply to remote working but also to say, dominance of digital content & platforms like Netflix or Amazon Prime. People aren't going to suddenly stop viewing content on digital platforms because the content there is fundamentally good.
Many tech companies have already committed to a hybrid or fully remote future
It is common knowledge now that big tech firms like Twitter, Shopify, Reddit, Microsoft etc. have already made plans for a hybrid or fully remote model. Many companies have cancelled their office lease by paying huge amounts. There's a large scale movement from tier-1 cities to tier-2 cities or towns and consequently, dip in real estate prices & rents in cities. All of these things aren't temporary but sustained, long-term trends.
Companies adopting remote work
— Hrishikesh Pardeshi (@hrishiptweets) October 12, 2020
How it started: How it's going: pic.twitter.com/tuKXpQD6QA
Don't be fooled by the numbers
Stocks moving up or down in a single day isn't an accurate measure of a long-term & broad trend like remote work. Zoom's stock grew by 600% in 2020 before that dip happened. The price is naturally inflated and it might just course correct post the pandemic.
Not every single person will be working from their home or remotely as in 2020. However, many people would, for most of the time.
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