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Five Industries Poised to Thrive Post-Pandemic

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The spread of Coronavirus has sent shockwaves across the global economy. With such a devastating human cost to the pandemic, the imposition of lockdowns has successfully limited the spread of the virus, albeit at the cost of production.

In the coming weeks and months, the world will return to varying degrees of ‘normality.’ But is the same true for various industries? It’s certain that different sectors will recover at different rates. No doubt, some will need more time to regroup and return to normal operations.

For other industries, the opposite could be true. Certain technological fields have been experiencing unprecedented growth even in this time of isolation, and both history and current trends indicate that other industries may be set to boom in the months after COVID-19 as well.

While many of us will remember the crash of 2008, the circumstances behind the current market crash will be unprecedented for the vast majority. So let’s take a look at what industry recoveries may look like after the pandemic, and explore which sectors might thrive following the return to ‘normality’.

Collaboration Technology

Since the arrival of Coronavirus, shares in Zoom, a video conferencing app, have leaped over 120 percent. Elsewhere, Slack’s collaborative platform has experienced a seismic rise of 25 percent in share price.

As global lockdown measures have forced the world to work from home (WFH), remote collaboration tools have experienced a profound rise in popularity. Given the circumstances, some may assume that the collaborative technology industry is experiencing a bubble that will inevitably burst once governments allow workers to return to their offices. However, for many companies, the pandemic has acted as a large-scale road test for WFH readiness — which, for many decision-makers, will have proved that a transition towards more remote work is possible.

The benefits of WFH are far-reaching: companies can save money on in-house supplies, servers and utilities, while workers can eliminate their commute and work in a more comfortable environment.

With future developments in the fields of augmented reality and virtual reality promising to make remote collaboration even more immersive, it’s reasonable to expect more businesses to embrace technology to enable WFH initiatives after the virus. Collaboration technology is undoubtedly set to flourish over the coming years.

Healthcare

The pandemic has also prompted widespread investment in global healthcare. $120 billion pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly recently joined forces with a biotech startup in a bid to fight the threat of Coronavirus. “We’ve never moved at this pace before,” explained Eli Lilly’s Chief Scientific Officer, Dan Skrovonsky.

The COVID-19 outbreak has reaffirmed the need for investment in both healthcare equipment and pharmaceuticals. While the industry is understandably volatile as world health services struggle to keep up with demand, it’s a safe bet that many governments will look to secure their future against future pandemics faster.

Expect to see plenty of investment in life-saving protective equipment and vaccinations in the months and years following Coronavirus.

Online Gaming

With millions of people unable to work due to the outbreak, it’s not surprising to see that online gaming has surged in terms of usage. With very few alternative ways to kill time while in isolation, more money is being spent on buying and accessing video games.

In China, the first nation to experience widespread isolation measures, players spent over two billion yuan (around $280 million) on one of the nation’s leading mobile games, Glory of the King, in a single day, marking a 50 percent increase year over year.

Coronavirus has caused the world to slow down somewhat, allowing time for people across the world to discover, or recapture, an enthusiasm for online gaming. With reports of Nintendo Switch sales more than doubling in March compared to the same time last year, along with increases in Playstation and Xbox sales, it’s fair to expect the burgeoning user base to continue to find time for video gaming long after the end of international lockdowns.

Remote Learning

Online learning is another industry that’s flourishing during Coronavirus-enforced isolation. In March, over 27.5 million hours was spent on Cornerstone Learning  — indicating that users are choosing to invest their newfound free time wisely.

Thanks to a widespread transition among businesses offering more WFH options for employees, many of us will leverage online education platforms well after the Coronavirus pandemic. It’s also fair to expect more usage from employees who have found themselves between jobs due to the crisis, and are looking to pick up new skills as they re-enter the job market.

Automakers

Counterintuitively, car manufacturers could perform exceptionally well following coronavirus as well. It’s reasonable to expect sales to fall following such a disruptive event, but Seeking Alpha notes that following the 2002 SARS outbreak, it was actually the automotive industry that recovered fastest.

The logic behind the rise in car sales is relatively straightforward. When the public believes that commuting on public transport isn’t safe, the demand for automobiles will rise.

The months following Coronavirus could see a rise in road traffic as people return to work reluctant to put themselves at risk of infection. It may also be some time before people fully regain their comfort with taking public transportation — and sharing their space with other commuters — following a prolonged period of isolation.

Talent Analytics: Predicting HR’s Way Out Of The Fog

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Here’s the average amount of time recruiters spend looking at a resume: 6.25 seconds. That’s how long it takes to evaluate, by brain, whether or not a candidate is the right fit for a job. And here’s another stat: this is the thirteenth month in a row when 200,000 plus jobs have been created.

So, theoretically, to fill 200,000 jobs would require 347 hours of brain time. That doesn’t count all the other candidates who didn’t make the cut. Or what happens after the hire.

The variations on success or failure in HR are always endless: we’re human, not robot, for one thing. But given our profoundly transformed world of work, the variables are now also epic. From multiple generations to global organizations to the enormous impact of Big Data, there’s no turning back. Our era has been called the Talent Age, the Social Age, the Mobile Age. What it’s not: the Pile Of Resumes Age.

Hence HR’s present headache. There’s a lot of talk about how we need to change the culture: become more people-centric, understand what the millennials and innovative talent wants (start by accepting that they are The Future of Work), figure out how to foster engagement and express recognition and make sure no one leaves. And then there’s all this data. Big Data can seem part ether, part mega-entity. As someone told me, it’s like a fog machine was left on and filled the conference room as we all sat there, stunned. And the word unstructured can strike fear in the hearts of even the most seasoned talent managers.

But it’s not a fog of data, it’s our own fog. We need to approach epic change in an epic way and be very clear about it. To really leverage human capital now, we need to turn to the data that is constantly forming, streaming, reforming. Passive and active candidates, onboarding, training, engagement, retention, attrition, performance, recognition: it can all be predicted with Big Data.

The key is that we are not just gazing into a crystal ball, we’re looking with clarity, knowing that the more information, the more time, the more data points, the more accuracy. But this is about modeling, and about forecasting:

  1. Turnover.Predicting the risk for the most turnover — in which functions, which units, which locations, and what positions, and modeling the scenarios in advance
  2. Churn / retention.Identifying where the highest risk of churn is going to be, and who is at risk for it. Determining what resources should be turned to them in terms of retention activities and / or training.
  1. Risk.Building realistic profiles of which candidates are risk for leaving prematurely, and when. Creating models of which candidates are likely to experience drop in their performance.
  1. Talent.Forecasting who, among new hires, are going to be the high achievers and high performers, and decide should they be shifted into fast track programs. 
  1. Futurecasting. Modeling the various changes that an organization may experience, from global to political, and what the impact of talent hiring, retention and engagement could be.

We need technology that can be used through mobile devices, is interconnected via the cloud so it’s consistent across the board, is intelligent enough to keep learning, is agile enough to refocus. We also need tech to be consistent enough to be a Watson to our Jeopardy. But that’s exactly what predictive analytics offers: the ability to take the past and make sense of it in terms of common factors and key relationships, and to use that information not just to model and predict the future, but to make sound and insightful recommendations.

It may seem like a glaring paradox, but in data lies the future of human resources and talent management. So yes, we do need to change the culture — to one that relies on data. And then we can see clearly.

A version of this was first posted on Forbes.

Introducing the TalentCulture #WorkTrends Chat and Podcast

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We’ve all seen many a site proclaim significant changes for 2016, but in this case, the proclamation is earned, and real. It’s been quite a ride and I will continue to make new things happen here. My friend in forecasting and futurecasting about the world of work (Kevin W. Grossman) is heading for some exciting new ventures and partnerships, and so am I—right here— with the TalentCulture Community. Kevin is still going to be a featured voice here on the blog as we move forward.

I’m amping up my own podcast, shifting from #TChat to a focus on something new, and we’re incredibly thrilled to announce the launch of #WorkTrends—the new incarnation of our current podcast and Twitter Chat on The Future of Work, but with a sharper lens.

Our new #WorkTrends podcast and Twitter chat kick off on Wednesday, February 10, 2016, from 1-2 PM EST.  It’s the same time and channel for those who participate along with us weekly. 

As you know, my passion is about the workforce and most importantly, its valuable people; both in the workplace as well as how we navigate this amazing new global, multicultural workscape. Things like big data, cloud technology, mobility, and social media continue to influence all things about work as we know it today, and as it will be in the future. How those things impact your brand, recruitment and hiring practices, loyalty, corporate culture, marketing, social media, employee retention and beyond are all things I’ll examine in great detail moving forward.

And yes, I see this as a workscape for The Future of Work. The clarity with which innovation bumps us into a new awareness is the same vision we need to maintain, and that’s what #WorkTrends is all about.

The world of work has so radically evolved in the past decade. It has changed, and when looking back, sometimes it’s hard to fathom the incredible leap we’ve taken. In honor of that evolution, I was reflecting on all the work and adventures Kevin and I have been fortunate to be able to do, and I realized that he and I have taken one incredible social and learning journey together. It’s always a leap of faith to trend cast, particularly when it comes to brand and talent issues these days: like weathercasters, getting it wrong can have profound consequences. We are still searching for answers and asking questions along the way.

But we’ve also managed to get it right. We both share respect for the power of analytics and the importance of cross-generational teamwork, along with an appreciation for the value of employers who understand brand awareness and the candidate experience. We live on mobile devices and in social channels, so the leap to seeing work take on these facets has been a natural one for us, and always exciting to share with the community we’ve created.

As a fellow work-caster, Kevin has been a font of wisdom and a great friend along the way. Kevin also understands, firsthand, the value of seemingly trivial things–like middle initials. I applaud Kevin and all he has accomplished and continues to do at The Talent Board and am looking forward to watching him do what he does best—make great things happen.

As for me, I’m interested in how we dovetail talent, technology and business, enabling the right kind of intelligence without disabling the right quality of interaction for the future of work. What we’re learning about this is incredibly exciting, and in the same vein as we work to forecast new trends. I’m also profoundly impressed by the team of talent and the community I have with me, and you’re going to see the results of all this work I hope.

It’s going to be exciting to set off into 2016 with this super foundation as a jumping off point. So hang onto your hats. Here we go! I have more exploring and collaboration to do. We all do.