Prepare to work from home because of the coronavirus
Many South African companies have requested that their employees work from home to limit the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Employees are also opting to self-quarantine as a way to protect themselves against catching the virus.
Working from home comes with challenges, however. It is, for example, not always possible for employees to perform their work while away from the office.
Another big challenge, said EE Business Intelligence MD Chris Yelland, is a stable electricity supply due to load-shedding and unplanned power outages.
“Electricity is a critical enabler for all telecommunications and business and transactional activities,” said Yelland.
He said while offices typically have a diesel generator as a backup power solution, these are less prevalent at homes and apartments.
He said remote workers will now have to take responsibility for a stable electricity supply at their homes.
This means they have to invest in uninterrupted power supply (UPS) equipment, battery backup systems, or solar power.
Power outages extend beyond load-shedding
Yelland said South Africans can expect intermittent bouts of load-shedding for the next two years.
While load-shedding is the most prevalent reason for power outages, it is not the only cause of blackouts.
Equipment breakdowns, cable faults, cable theft, and vandalism also cause power outages which affect businesses and households.
This will continue, and Yelland said small businesses and home users will have to install backup power systems as power outages become the norm.
He said while power backup systems are expensive, it is often more costly for a small business if they are not able to function.
Business owners and employees who work from home will have to weigh up the price of a power backup system and the cost of not being able to do work.
Massive impact on the economy
Yelland said the impact of the coronavirus on the economy, which is already struggling due to load-shedding, will be massive.
“We have already seen the loss of confidence in the business sector, and this is going to impact it further,” he said.
“We have seen a massive decline on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange which gives you an indication of the sentiment out there.”
He predicted a severe economic impact which will affect the profitability and sustainability of many businesses.
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