COVID-19 Weekly Digest (December 16, 2020)
To say that 2020 has been a wild ride is an understatement. This article in the Wall Street Journal looks at surveys, economic data, and research papers to get an idea of what’s changed and what might be coming our way. The pandemic forced many of us to work from home, and that trend may be here to stay. But the increase in productivity came at a cost: many employees are exhausted and burned out. A large number of women were forced out of the workplace due to the pressures of childcare and remote learning. Unemployment jumped from 3.8% in March to 13% in May. Millions have lost jobs or have had hours cut or bonuses deferred. Over a third of Americans work from home, and over a quarter would like to make that arrangement permanent.
The only thing exact about 2021 at this point is that it will be different from 2020. Hopefully, we have all learned valuable lessons that will help us continue to thrive next year and into the future!
CARES ACT UPDATES
Another stimulus bill?
A new bill may be introduced by the end of this week, but it remains unclear if it will pass. While both sides have been offering concessions, those concessions may make it harder for either party members to support a bill that doesn’t contain the elements they want. Democrats want more funding for state and local governments, while Republicans want liability protection for businesses. President Trump is pushing for another round of stimulus checks but at the expense of ending federal support for unemployment. At present, all sides appear to be impossibly deadlocked.
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
In a rush to get money in the hands of businesses in need of support, some of the usual barriers that prevent fraudulent borrowing were removed, as this article in the New York Times reports. A House subcommittee has identified more than $4 billion in potentially fraudulent loans, and an SBA fraud hotline, which received 742 complaints in 2019, has already received more than 100,000 this year. Bank executives encountered fake payroll records, modified bank statements, and fake business tax returns, among other sketchy documents.
Tax Issues
Employees who have been working from home during the pandemic may face a surprise when they file their 2020 tax returns if their home is in a different state from the employer’s location. Now, with more people spending the majority of their working time across state lines, some employees may need to file an income tax return in a new resident state. However, not all employers have been withholding and paying income tax in those new states. Compounding the issue are the laws in some states, such as New York, that allow them to collect tax when workers reside in another state and work from home for the “convenience” of the employer. These states have indicated that they intend to aggressively pursue taxes from remote workers, resulting in double taxation on the same income. This is definitely a situation where you should consult a professional.
WORKING FROM HOME
Cal Newport, the author of Deep Work, maintains that taking regular breaks from work is vital for retaining the mental energy needed for productive and focused work. Plus, what we do during those breaks is critical, as this article in Fast Company explains. However, working from home can make it hard to either block out the time for holidays or to use those breaks in the best ways to refresh one’s mental energy. According to Newport, using time-block planning to schedule breaks throughout the day and not using those breaks for “work” activities such as email or returning calls can increase productivity and work satisfaction. But doing something like taking a walk outside reduces the cognitive load makes it easier to switch attention back to work.
Basecamp, a company that makes project management software, has been a small company since its inception two decades ago. To keep communication smooth, they developed “a collection of general principles we try to keep in mind at Basecamp when communicating with teammates, within departments, across the company, and with the public,” which is available for free on their website. Their 30 principles emphasize asynchronous communication, long-form writing, and allowing ample time for decisions to be made.
LIVING WITH AND AFTER THE PANDEMIC
Work in the post-pandemic world
The pandemic abruptly changed how we work and how leaders lead. In this article in Fast Company, Aytekin Tank, founder of tech company JotForm, reflects on the three strategies he’ll continue for 2021 and the one he’s scrapping. The “always-on” mentality, which blurred the boundaries between work and life, is the one he’s scrapping. He’ll continue being an anchor for his team, continuously re-assessing how the company works and their products, as well as embracing change while focusing on meaning.
Performance reviews are a necessary part of the process for giving out bonuses and promotions at many companies. Still, the regular operation may unfairly penalize employees who could not contribute as much during 2020 due to the pandemic. Women, especially women of color, may be seen as underperforming under criteria that may be biased against women. This article in the Harvard Business Review outlines a process to reduce bias in performance evaluations so that all employees can be assessed relatively, given the circumstances of their work and family lives. One part of this is to broaden the performance criteria to include overlooked measures of contributing to organizations to make the process fair for all. Using these expanded performance criteria, managers can “figure out how to reward those employees who are ‘stepping up’ during these crises without inadvertently penalizing those who have needed to ‘lean out.’”
Thinking about expanding your knowledge?
If you’re one of the many millions of people who are now working from home, you might have discovered that you are dealing with technological issues a lot more than when you were in an office with your trusty IT Specialist fixing all your issues. Now you just might need to figure some things out yourself. Did you know that you can actually get an IT Help Certification from Google? Coursera and Google have partnered up to offer a five-month program. At the end of it, you will be able to fix all your own problems, or, you can sign your kid up to get certified. They’ll have a certificate when they’re done and you can guilt them into helping you for free!
Maybe you have been thinking about some exciting tech things such as cloud computing, data science or artificial intelligence. You might have even considered getting a Nanodegree to take your business up a notch but maybe it was too expensive. Or, maybe your child or family member is in the same boat: wanting a Nanodegree but not being able to shell out a few thousand dollars. Well, you’re in luck because, over the next three years, Udacity and Bertelsmann Technologies are teaming up to give out 50,000 Nanodegree scholarships. While you need a bit of background knowledge for cloud computing and data science tracks, you don’t need any for the AI in Business Track. You could end up creating the next AI business that could make you billions. Just remember who gave you the idea! We’re happy to help you with all that bookkeeping and accounting!
Something to Make You Feel Good
You might want to check out this cat that fully believes in social distancing. Or, read about the discovery of the tiny pygmy possums that people were worried had been wiped out from the bush fires.
