Tag: social distancing

The internet is disruptive by nature. It has transformed the way societies and economies work, communicate and play, businesses operate, and how governments deliver services to citizens. Digital technologies are paving the way forward for rapid innovation, economic growth, and job creation.

A closer look at businesses who managed to pivot, highlighting the true resilience of South Africa’s SMEs. It has been more than a year since South Africa’s nationwide lockdown was implemented in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Lockdown rendered many things impossible, among them the ability for unions to 'show up' for their members in what has traditionally been the status quo for negotiation in South Africa: the organised strike. In many countries across the globe and particularly in South Africa, the ability to organise a strike is where a union best demonstrates its strength.

COVID-19 highlighted the necessity of having a viable telemedicine regime as a ‘safety net’ to ensure continued access to healthcare services whilst maximising social distancing. We now have an opportunity to better understand the challenges and exploit the benefits of telemedicine services.

As the health and humanitarian impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic evolve, so do the business and economic challenges. Organisations looking to balance their immediate needs with longer-term opportunities will see the trade-offs play out across three waves of impact – the Now, the Next, and the Never Normal.

Brands in all sectors of the economy have come through COVID-19 with varying degrees of success. The liquor industry was of course hard hit, but through it we (as a brand) have learned a lot about consumer behaviour. In fact, the purchase-behaviour spinoffs we’ve seen as a direct result of COVID-19 restrictions have been very interesting.

COVID-19 has changed a lot of things – including the way that companies and employees approach business travel. Just over a year since COVID-19 made its presence known in South Africa, it would seem as though some of these changes are fleeting, while others are here to stay.

While COVID-19 is certainly not a thing of the past, as a society we appear to be starting to find ways of living with the virus and, for most people at least, taking the necessary precautions to protect ourselves from being infected by it. The same can be said for many businesses.

COVID-19 has brought another dynamic in managing the safety of employees on-site and has further complicated the process of onboarding. Clients now need to implement comprehensive back-to-work plans in order to quickly identify high-risk individuals, and those who have recently travelled in so-called ‘hotspots’.

A Global Travel Industry Roundtable has defined a unified roadmap with safe alternatives and specific actions to phase out the use of long-term quarantine policies and travel restrictions. Comprising 20 major trade organisations, including the World Travel Agents Associations Alliance (WTAAA), of which we are a member, the global coalition was formed to accelerate the recovery of the travel industry by aligning global efforts behind common messaging and industry standards in collaboration with medical and policy experts.