What was the impact of the pandemic in Aveiro? - The voice of companies

As the various countries entered confinement, people were forced to maintain social distance and to work at home, leading many businesses to experience the impact of the pandemic. Digital technologies have thus become a key pillar in this new phase of countries' lives. Covid-19 has challenged companies to change during the pandemic. To some extent this push for digital transformation has triggered what was already known: there is no choice, the digitalisation of the economy is a reality.

Online shopping, video conferencing, online events, home office and online classes are already part of the new routine. The formal education system has also undergone change, with distance learning efforts. In short, these necessary adaptations have led small and large businesses to review their way of behaving in the market and their vision towards a greater digitalisation of their processes.

Companies felt the need to become digitally flexible. Even companies that previously resisted adopting digital systems are now using video conferencing, document sharing, and enjoy all the benefits that technology can bring to support the (forced) confinement caused by the pandemic.

In contrast, information security is an essential factor in the world of business and this is also one of the greatest challenges facing us today. Companies that are in more advanced processes of digitalisation present an advantage that puts them in the leadership of this reality.

The impact of the pandemic on companies was one of the subjects addressed in the interviews conducted, in recent weeks, by the Labour Observatory team with companies in the ITCE and Industry sector, in Aveiro. These interviews are part of the research activities that aim to identify the priorities and qualification needs of Aveiro related to the digital transformation in the regional labour market. A key evidence suggested by the results of the interviews is the benefits associated to the shift for remote work office, an argument that was mentioned by most of the companies. All the companies interviewed had, at least part, of their workers working from home. The shift to this model of work was generalized except for some industries whose operations characteristics did not allow for the production to be conducted remotely.

The companies reported that the home office process took place naturally and only a few adjustments were necessary for the implementation of some (not new) tools, mainly related to security issues. Among the media used, Skype was the most cited, being mentioned by 40% of the companies,  followed by Microsoft Teams and Zoom which were also cited by 30% of the companies.

Companies also highlighted some advantages associated with remote work, including productivity gains for some teams, as well as lower travel costs. Likewise some interviewees mentioned observing increased objective meetings and the reduction in the volume of emails. The need for providing psychological support for the employees who had more difficulties to adapt, because they were more extroverted, was highlighted in the interviews.

In summary, the companies mentioned that working at distance can be as productive as working at the office. This experience was important to dispel the fears associated with digital/working platforms and made it easier for the tools to prove to be very useful to avoid some of the inconveniences of not having face-to-face work. Most companies even consider keeping telework in some areas of the company. The results of the Labour Observatory thus suggest that the migration of some functions to remote and distributed work models is an unequivocal trend in the region, and for this process it will be necessary to design adequate training responses in the very short term.