2020 Summary: 7 Things We Will Remember

When looking at 2020 summary, Year 2020 showed that one on the most important skill in business environment is resilience. Business resilience is the term consulting companies use collectively for IT disaster recovery and business continuity. But in times of Covid-19 it is much more than that. It become a standard for businesses that need to recover fast, pivot and build on the current environment not the past. Check out our March Coronavirus Post.

Those are top 7 things we will remember about year 2020 and Covid-19 Pandemic situation.

1. Pandemic hit Europe – 2020 summary

In March 2020 Pandemic hit Europe as one of the first regions after China and Wuhan. No one knew what to expect and what changes this will bring into our socially enhanced world. First government reactions suggested that we are going into a big economy slowdown as Lockdowns were introduced across Europe when the numbers of people infected got out of hands for many countries. And ever since we are still in a moderate lockdown. It is like a sinusoidal effect.

When number of people infected raise too much – governments put Lockdowns in place. When the numbers are going down – we want to ease off on the economy and release the restrictions. There is no golden rule on how to approach the Covid19 from the economical standpoint. Medical experts suggest permanent lockdowns but economies will not cope with that.

By the first lockdown everyone new that this will impact us big time from the sales and business perspective.

2. Businesses at risk – 2020 summary

Yelp data shows 60% of business closures due to the coronavirus pandemic are now permanent.

Yelp released its Economic Impact Report, revealing business closures across the U.S. are increasing as a result of the coronavirus pandemic’s economic toll. 

As of Aug. 31, some 163,735 businesses have indicated on Yelp that they have closed. That’s down from the 180,000 that closed at the very beginning of the pandemic. However, it actually shows a 23% increase in the number of closures since mid-July.

3. Economy bounce back – 2020 summary

COVID-19 has caused an economic shock three times worse than the 2008 financial crisis. Looking at historical precedents, it’s about three times as bad as the global financial crisis of 2008 in terms of GDP decline on an annual basis.

Based on McKinsey Report Economic indicators improved and trade began to recover; output and demand are still below pre-COVID-19 levels; recovery in the US, Brazil, and India is impaired by the ongoing public-health crisis.

4. Flexible work – 2020 summary

According to WeForum The COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns and related global recession of 2020 have created a highly uncertain outlook for the labour market and accelerated the arrival of the future of work.

Although the number of jobs destroyed will be surpassed by the number of ‘jobs of tomorrow’ created, in contrast to previous years, job creation is slowing while job destruction accelerates. 

Skills gaps continue to be high as in-demand skills across jobs change in the next five years. The top skills and skill groups which employers see as rising in prominence in the lead up to 2025 include groups such as critical thinking and analysis as well as problem-solving, and skills in self-management such as active learning, resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility. 

Online learning and training is on the rise but looks different for those in employment and those who are unemployed. There has been a four-fold increase in the numbers of individuals seeking out opportunities for learning online through their own initiative, a five-fold increase in employer provision of online learning opportunities to their workers and a nine-fold enrolment increase for learners accessing online learning through government programmes.

5. Demand for digitalisation – 2020 summary

COVID-19 has turned digitisation from a “nice to have” to a “must have” for many organisations. Forcing them to adapt and modernise quickly in order to keep their operations running. While digitisation may seem like a daunting task for some organisations. The pandemic has made it clear that sound business strategy demands identifying digital transformation opportunities.

It is well known that COVID-19 pandemic rapidly sent millions of people to work from home (WFH). This created an immediate challenge for many organisations on how to provide secure system access to employees. The less visible and more challenging transformation that also occurred was the sudden requirement to digitise processes. Including previously paper-based transactions, in-person meetings, business travel, and other “normal” day-to-day operations.

Some organisations had already begun the digitisation journey before the pandemic hit, providing them with a head start. For example, companies that were already focused on collaboration technologies before COVID-19 were in the strongest position. It was easier for them to maintain steady business operations when social separation and work-from-home (WFH) became new realities. Likewise, those with robust security mechanisms in place, were better positioned to transition to virtual working while protecting sensitive information. Organisations that increased their internet and network capacity before the pandemic found it easier to connect to remote employees.

6. Retail in trouble and E-Commerce is king

According to Harvard Business Review One of the legacies of the 2020 pandemic and the resulting lockdowns is the long list of retailers who’ve filed for bankruptcy. In the United States, the list of causalities includes Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, Pier One, Brooks Brothers, Sur La Table, Guitar Center, and Stein Mart. During this same period, as consumers have increased their reliance on online shopping, Amazon’s share price has risen from $1,900 to $3,160.

The world of retail was already going through extreme turbulence, driven by a number of factors. The first is consumer behaviors and demographic changes — more single parent households, more people living alone, more urban living. This is a 20-year trend.

Some people hope for a strong retail rebound as societies become vaccinated. Based on the idea that there’s pent-up demand to go shopping.

China did experience a retail surge after lockdown. It lasted around three or four months and was more online than offline. Traffic in malls is still a little depressed, but conversion is higher. People who go to stores are more likely to buy. By the end of 2020, retail growth will be positive in China. The additional buying it’s seen since lockdown has more than made up for business lost during lockdown.

7. 2020 was not a mobile year anymore

When looking at 2020 summary the mobility was not the buzz word anymore. Because of mass office closures and government lockdowns mobility lost its spotlight. Year after year businesses around the globe were bringing up the “year of mobile” phrase over and over again. In 2020 it is not mobile any more – it is REMOTE and FLEXIBLE that got a lot of attention. We stopped commuting, we were no longer roaming through the cities. World slowed down with the usage of mobile services. We became a desktop creatures that needed online access to their company network and resources. Remote access from nice to have become a necessity – I MUST HAVE.

The coronavirus pandemic and ensuing global lockdowns led to fears of a systemic meltdown. But the recovery in the U.S. and around the world has been stronger than many predicted.