Adapting to Working from Home

KOMPAS/Lasti Kurnia

Wiwin Umbara, brand activation manager of a private company, held an online meeting with his team members while working from home (WFH) in a period of independent isolation at his home in the Kebun Jeruk area, Jakarta, Friday (27/3/2020).

The Covid-19 outbreak forced people to adapt to new situations, one of which is mastering digital technology in order to survive and develop.

Adaptation to digital technology happens fast, only in about three months. The use of the internet is very vital in working and learning from home. Something that was previously never imagined would happen soon.

The social group that feels the most severe impact is the lower middle class. However, basically everyone without exception feels the impact because they have to comply with social restrictions to break the chain of transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the cause of COVID-19.

Also read : Offices a Source of New Clusters

Social restrictions have made it so that people are no longer acquiring daily needs outside their home. The effect of the decline in offline consumer spending is most pronounced in industry groups related to tourism and lifestyle, such as restaurants, travel, recreation areas, clothing, footwear and cosmetics.

In adapting to the new life, the shift in processes occurs on two fronts: consumers and producers. On the producer side, the challenge is to keep production and services available to the market.

Also read: Workplaces at Risk of Covid-19 Transmission

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Traders at the Pasar Binaan Market, Jatibaru, Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, take photos of clothing with cellphones for online marketing amid a large-scale social restriction policy that still applies in DKI Jakarta, Monday (1/6/2020).

We are quite ready in telecommunications infrastructure even though we have not yet reached all parts of Indonesia. The development of the Palapa Ring optical fiber telecommunications backbone in the form of seven small circles in Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, Maluku and Papua enables internet communication in most areas. If the plan to add three communication satellites until 2023 continues to go according to plan despite the COVID-19 outbreak, practically all regions of Indonesia will be reached by the internet network.

What is encouraging is that the new situation has led to a surge in the use of the internet for productive economic activities; the ability to adapt and see opportunities occur in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which account for more than 95 percent of the total business units in Indonesia. The types of goods and services traded are very diverse because of the availability of the online marketplaces. This also shows that MSMEs have the toughness in doing business even though economically they are small in size per unit.

Also read: Time for the “Stay-at-Home Economy”

Nevertheless, the government still needs to help the MSME entrepreneurs go through their hardest period, namely when they return to production after hibernation for more than three months. Channeling capital stimulus through banks and financial institutions that have networks to the MSME entrepreneurs only fulfills one of their needs.

In order for the MSME players to survive, develop and advance to become big entrepreneurs, they need assistance in management, an understanding of the market, and to obtain raw materials and logistics. All can not be separated from the new situation that must continue to pay attention to health protocols. Adapting to digital technology must become a new way of life.