We can expect that our "Great National Experiment" with remote working will not disappear when the "stay at home" orders are rescinded. Organizations have figured out how to function with a dispersed workforce. There are advantages in trip reductions and office footprints. The amount of office space needed will likely shrink considerably. Bean counters will look to streamline the expense sheets and they will take advantage of you providing the office environment at no cost per square foot.
While in this disaster the distribution of workers across the landscape was of great benefit, it worked well because the telecommunications systems in the United States, by and large, held up strong and allowed for remote workers. I do think the resilience we garnered from our most modern infrastructure continuing to function has been terrific for our current circumstances. What will happen when it is not a disease and instead physical destruction that takes out our electrical grid and the telecommunications systems for extended periods of time?
It has been a while since I wrote about coronal mass ejections (CME) that can heat up long-distance power lines and then fry the transformers sitting at the end of those lines, causing power outages that can last not weeks, or months, but even years. Everyone, everywhere who does not have electrical power will be unable to be productive in the same manner that we have experienced in this disaster. The shift to working remotely in that case will be a detriment. Of course, in very large events, the commercial buildings will also not be inhabitable. No elevators, no water pressure, no temperature controls, server rooms overheating.
Each type of disaster has its own specific impacts. Fortunately for the one we are in, a big advantage has been that we have been able to continue to be "connected."
