LONDON: “It’s all good, I just eat all day” since working from home because of the coronavirus outbreak, a London employee in IT said. “Everyone is in the same boat!“
For others — such as hospital, factory and delivery workers — home employment is impossible, while for those who are transferring their jobs to makeshift offices in living rooms and bedrooms up and down the country, the switch is far from straight forward.
Offices across London’s key financial hubs have largely emptied since British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday urged UK workers, especially those in the capital, to work from home if able to do so.
Banking group HSBC explained that while branches remained staffed, back-office employees were tending to work from home.
Its trading rooms, the nerve centers of financial markets, are operating normally but staff have been spread over two sites to reduce physical contact.
The London Metal Exchange, which ordinarily operates out of its famous round trading floor adorned with red sofas, has also moved to split its teams of workers, requesting they work from home on a rotational basis.
Attempting to seal a new commercial contract when not being able to charm clients face-to-face is not ideal, even if agreements can be struck thanks to technology — as long as it works.
Sophia, hoping to strike a lucrative consultancy deal, lamented IT issues affecting her progress.
“This was particularly critical because that client is located in South America and we were keen to use the call to establish a relationship, but the technology kept getting in the way,” she said, adding that such an agreement would be struck usually by her flying over to meet the customer.
BP Chief Executive Bernard Looney, whose company’s revenues are tanking on plunging crude prices, has ordered all staff to work “remotely, except those involved in, or supporting, critical operations.”
BP has meanwhile halted large meetings and staff travel.
BACKGROUND
Offices across London’s key financial hubs have largely emptied since British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday urged UK workers, especially those in the capital, to work from home if able to do so.
Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday confirmed similar measures.
Schools in Scotland and Wales will shut on Friday, with England expected to follow suit.
Some universities have already closed their lecture theaters and are teaching exclusively online. International schools, including French establishments in London, have shut, leaving parents to juggle jobs with keeping a watch over children, who are tasked with continuing their education via online applications provided by the likes of Google and Facebook.
Private tutors, including those providing music lessons, are using live video services to continue teaching. Workers offering exercise classes such as yoga are also going down the same path.
“We’re gonna sit, breathe, find an intention,” says Daniel, offering meditation sessions to his stay-at-home class, which responds by sending him a constellation of virtual hearts.
People working in television and radio who rely on computer equipment to download heavy files at high speeds are constrained by what they can do from home.
