Creating an income for yourself post-pandemic
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Tashiya Weeraratne
Impact of Covid-19 on the global business market
The Covid-19 pandemic has drastic effects on the global business market. The pandemic has directly and indirectly affected multiple sectors resulting towards severe consequences impacting the people, companies and the country.
Due to the given restrictions and limitations of operations, businesses have been compelled to halt or lessen activity. Certain industries have been constrained from functioning until further notice. These implications have had a staggering effect on the earnings generated, most organizations will not have sufficient financial strength to survive this catastrophic series of events. Painful consequences are being encountered, they are to generate rippling effects within the forthcoming months whilst the best efforts are being taken to mitigate economic damage to all counterparts.
World trade is set to decline by 13% to 32% globally, directly effecting the working population worldwide. This can eventually cause an aggressive increase in the global unemployment rate, currently at 190 million. Regardless of this statistic, almost 3 billion workers internationally are impacted from the full/partial lockdowns in place.
Risks of relying entirely on
your full time job
Considering the impact in a more local perspective, key income generating industries which are depending on foreign counter-parts are likely to have an astounding drop of income. Investments will temporarily be on hold until uncertainty has been addressed.
Industries such as Tourism, Apparel & Textile and Retail, to name a few, consists of a large proportion of foreign consumers. A considerable portion of the businesses within these industries can take reactive measures to put their businesses on “survival” mode, this initiative can harm its employees financially.
Restrictions limiting business transactions will cause a reduction in sales, extended periods of credit and delayed payments will cause businesses to function temporarily at an incurred cost. Businesses will consist of running costs which will sustain despite the pandemic, organizations will consider options such as “pay cuts” and “layoffs” to keep things afloat.
In such situations, employees who rely solely on a full-time job are distressed. There are families who depend entirely on this mode of income, having a cut off their pay will have serious consequences to the household. People nowadays fight daily to put three meals on the table and to pay bills, this will make their conditions worse. The current corporate situation should be an eye opener for the workforce to not solely depend on their 9 to 5 job.
Furthermore, forecasting for the future, organizations will have no intentions of taking up costly financial routes for the upcoming months. This implies for employment practises as well. For most corporates, having full-time employees consists of severe overhead costs, apart from the salary given to the employee.
Businesses are currently going through heavy changes in operations by practising “work from home”. Similarly, most firms will introduce aspects of part-time/freelancing cultures into their businesses to conduct certain components, this will revolutionize corporate practise. From a business perspective, introducing a culture as such will be considered to be a more cost effective approach.
Wave of Innovations
As the situation will continue to unfold, it is important for people to take proactive measures to face these challenges. This pandemic has changed consumer preferences. Majority of the companies are heavily emphasising on their online presence and their logistics capabilities to thrive in the current market conditions, as opposed to how majority of the businesses used contact-based channels prior to the pandemic. Preferences change job roles and business functions, a prompt innovative adaption is of paramount importance.
Initially, there was a social stigma surrounding part-time workers and freelancers, it was not considered a stable option and was not given the prominence which it should be given as opposed to a full-time job. The stance of this is likely to change with the current changing job market.
It is important to utilize the time given now to explore hidden skills and venture out a plan to work on a passion project for yourself. Utilizing the resources available to us now, it is importance to grasp the chances presented to us and make opportunities for ourselves. The heavy dependency on a 9 to 5 job may not get you far to progress on your personal and professional growth.
There are an array of benefits you can get by working on a part time project;
1. Your source of income is not limited to one avenue; reducing the risk one may have with regard to their flow of income. Given the current state of affairs, having a split income would reduce anxiety one may hold at the risk of losing a job and will assure a substantial income from their other sources.
2. Sharpening your skills; having an additional job can improve your personal and professional skills whilst enhancing the scope of your business knowledge. This can improve aspects such as time management and improve multitasking capabilities. The enhancement of your skills would present yourself better within your résumé.
3. Better opportunities; if you are exploring into a different field of work, it can create new ideas and paths for you to progress in. You might even discover your liking for a new field of work whilst developing your corporate network base.
Investing into uplifting one’s self is the best thing one could do. It is all about motivating yourself to take a little risk and see what is beyond your comfort zone.
By Tashiya Weeraratne
ilmiweeraratne@gmail.com