After Coronavirus, these industries shall boom

Coronavirus makes many things possible. Working from home was technically possible before the lockdown, and yet people and industries were lazy or complacent enough not to do anything. Like the destruction of weaving machines in England, people simply do not like changes; rather, they have all the impulse to resist them.

With the lockdown, office workers no longer have to struggle to be crammed into public transportation to go into the concrete buildings to commence the treadmill; shoppers no longer have the obligation to pay tribute to the concrete buildings to enter them to start the routine of shopping to feed the mouths; above all, you do not have to enter the concrete buildings to play the office politics and sit in front of the computer screens in exchange for a cheque. After the lockdown, for people to change back to the old ways would be difficult not least because that would not make economic sense. Employers want money to be made by using the least economic resources and by avoiding harassment claims and like industrial conundrum. Working from home would certainly achieve that. In fact, it is not working from home in the future; rather, it is working from anywhere in the world. It is not working by the people in the same country; rather, it is working by the most qualified and desirable people. People of the wrong temperament and character would face unemployment from their old jobs, but they could find new employment to suit their temperament and character. Given the mentality and structural change, the following industries shall boom:

First, the delivery companies. This is obvious and is already the trend; with the impact of coronavirus, this industry shall see nothing but exponential growth. The most successful mode of operation is to see the delivery done in the most efficient and cost effective way. That means those companies will succeed that use multiple means of delivery including using individuals and their cars to quickly and cheaply dispatch goods from various warehouses. Those individuals comprise both employed and unemployed, possibly, the wage earners or the millionaires, the latter of which would simply want to kill time and do something different. As such, they would be happy with low pay but have all the urge to provide the best service and build up a happy and loyal customer base.

Second, the air travel industries. Currently, the airlines face the most difficulties and many are just on the cusp of collapse. However, once coronavirus is over, they shall see skyrocketing demand, not only the past ordinary demand but also the extra demand created by the working from home culture. With more time and flexibility to work from anywhere in the world, it is unsurprising that many people would prefer to work in a nice country with warm weather and nice culture to escape the bone-chilling climate in many countries. It is no joking matter that the winter fuel cost in the UK could cover the cost of living in a warm country with decent internet connection. As such, the airlines will not only see more demands for general travel but also demands for travel to places that were not covered before the coronavirus outbreak.

Third, the electric car industries. Countries, East and West, have all noticed the great change in cities and throughout the entire countries: the sky is bluer, the pollution is lesser or totally gone, the choking car exhaust in cities is gone. Environmental campaigns may have gone too far in forcibly and, in some cases, under-handedly enforcing their views on the general public, creating a lot of scepticism. However, what now people see is the real environmental benefit arising from the lockdown, and undoubtedly they will certainly be receptive to the adaptation to the new life. The best place to start with is to transform the scene in the cities by replacing petrol and diesel cars and vehicles with electric cars. The technologies are ripe and many companies like Tesla had already started the process before the coronavirus outbreak; with the coronavirus over, the electric industries will quickly start their transformation on a massive scale. Backed up with the political will and the collapse of the lobbying of the old car industries, the electric cars shall proceed by leaps and bounds. In 20 years’ time, it would be a rare sight to see a petrol or diesel car (light-heartedly, it would not matter that you do not know how to spell the nasty difficult-to-memorise word diesel, as it would be once in a blue moon for one to come across and far less to use the word.)

Fourth, the global internet industry. It is inevitable that there will be free internet connection anywhere you are in the world. It is not 5G but possibly 20G that will be implemented throughout the world; the current restriction on internet use due to the lockdown would be a laughing stock for the future generation of people. They would enjoy internet connection that is unlimited in time, space and capacity, and that is also fault free. An outrange of the internet would be tantamount to a nuclear explosion in the future economics, and the best minds will all strive to achieve the fault free internet connection.

Fifth, the society will be safer and crimes reduced significantly if not completely depleted. Whilst the humanity is fighting the “invisible enemy” of coronavirus, technology emerges to track the host of the invisible enemy (i.e., the human being) and that proves to be effective. With AI, facial recognition tech and so many other mature and developing technologies, it is getting easier and easier to identify crimes and catch criminals. The scale of privacy and human rights will be poised toward keeping society safe and free from crimes. With the public tasting the benefit of technologies through the fight against the invisible enemy of coronavirus, societies will be more willing to accept the use of technologies to fight against visible enemies including criminals. Many countries like China are already going ahead and with surprising success; go anywhere there and you are thousands of times safer from crimes than before and indeed than anywhere else. If the human race inevitably and inherently has both good and evil, if technology is ripe to trace the havoc wreaked by the evil or prevent such havoc and bring criminals to justice, then there is no reason that society will not rise to make the best use of such technology.

Just as clear sky shows after a storm, so our world is certain to become a better and brighter place to live in and enjoy. With old ways and old industries dying and with new and innovative ways and industries booming, we earthlings really do not need to travel to another planet to enjoy better lives and see nicer landscapes (Of course, Musk’s mission of exploring and colonising other planets would be a reality and indeed a bonus and bliss for us earthlings to celebrate!)