Believe it or not, there were changes for the better

It’s been two years now since COVID first disrupted our lives. Its variants are still with us, with no apparent end in sight.

Going back to 2020, who can forget the sight of empty streets and sidewalks in cities and towns across the country? Not me.

Who can forget the panic of sudden deaths, ICU units clogged to overflow, and corpses stacked in freezer units because morgues were overflowing? Not me.

It was as if humanity froze in place for several months and then we were forced to adopt new routines, while scientific experts figured out what we were dealing with.

Then, thanks to the fastest vaccine in modern history, doses were jabbed by the billions, saving untold millions of lives in the process.

Even if none of your loved ones were seriously affected, we all had to make difficult decisions about how to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe. We still do.

Let’s talk about the positive trends

On a brighter note, a number of surprising and unforeseen workplace trends emerged. Perhaps many of them would’ve come along eventually, but they were rushed into our lives much faster by the pandemic.

Here’s my list of those trends. I’m curious to hear about any others you think I might’ve missed.

• Working remotely. Like never before, working from home is now part of the “compensation package” of every new hire, and key to retaining current employees. Other than in obvious fields like hospitality and healthcare, most job applicants are now interested in some combination of work from home and the office.
  
• Reimagining our work-life balance. For a variety of reasons, plenty of parents opted to drop out of the job market to stay home with their young children, some short-term, others longer-term.
  
• Early retirements. A huge wave of boomers, faced with going back to their workaday jobs, opted to retire early. “Why psychologically ramp myself up to go back to work when I was thinking of retiring soon anyway?”
  
• Adjusted and increased salaries. Last year brought the most accelerated increase in salaries in recent memory. For the lower-pay rungs, the increases were nothing less than amazing, spurred by employers’ desperate need to fill empty job openings.
  
• Zoom meetings. Remember when we had to get dressed up and drive or fly to every meeting we needed to, wanted to, or didn’t want to attend? Not so much anymore.
  
• Advances in medicine. COVID vaccines have now become the basis for advanced research into malaria and HIV vaccines, both of which proportionately kill more young people. This may just be the beginning.
  
• Casual work dress styles. Even when we do begin going back to the office, dress codes have universally been relaxed. Last week, I knotted up my first necktie in over two years.
  
• Learning remotely. While most experts (and parents) agree that classroom learning is much preferred, we have found that learning can be done remotely and will be effective for sick days and children with disabilities.
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  Family time. We’ve heard lots of stories of families and friends growing closer together, likely because they had to. More board games, movie nights, card games. Just generally enjoying each other’s company.
  

As one example, this past year my wife and I spent much more time with our kids and grandchildren than ever before. We finally had time to make it a priority.

More selective about who we mingle with

Looking ahead, we all need to be more selective about who we mingle with, not only for health reasons, but it’s also about who gets the benefit of our valuable time.

And for anyone who’s not fully vaccinated and boosted, I strongly encourage you (again and again) to make that your most important New Year’s Resolution.

Let’s spend this year focusing on ourselves, our families, and our careers. There has never been more opportunity for new jobs, raises, and new careers.

I believe in the power of positivity and in taking time to celebrate all the good things in our lives. No half-filled cups allowed in my life.

Take the initiative, use these new trends to your benefit, and start making your dreams come true in 2022.

Blair is co-founder of Manpower Staffing and author of “Job Won.” pblair@manpowersd.com