By Rita Green
The word for 2020 was “pivot.” No one truly knew the level of pivoting we were about to embark on until the end of the first quarter of last year. With a looming pandemic and monstrous hurricanes threatening the Gulf Coast, businesses throughout the region began to pivot and do what they do best — survive.
Everyone tapped into a whole new virtual experience. Companies learned how meetings could prove more productive simply by jumping on a virtual platform like Zoom, letting attendees communicate with a screen and microphone. Cloud-based apps like Slack and Trello increased communication and efficiency among teams. Long gone are the days of playing the daily scavenger hunt for “that email I sent ya.” Say hello to the wonderful world of instant messaging and file sharing.
Online businesses have been in operation for some time. However, a worldwide pandemic increased the visibility of these much-needed resources. In this time period, which felt like a true game of Jumanji, we’ve seen an influx of virtual opportunities that have been expanded and created.
HERE ARE JUST SOME OF THE JOB OPPORTUNITIES THAT HAVE SURFACED OR GROWN IN THE MARKET:
- Online retail buyers
- Virtual assistants
- Remote call center agents
- Social media coordinators
- Graphic design artists
- Web developers
- Editors and publishers
- Sales managers
- Remote tech support agents
- Bloggers
The list goes on. Opportunities in the virtual workforce are plentiful largely due to the unprecedented demand before us. Business dealings will never be the same. International meetings are held over a computer screen, and hometown deals are signed with the stroke of a keyboard. Assistants support their executives while they both vacation on opposite coasts and sip pina coladas (while social distancing, of course). Directors hold meetings right before taking their children to school. News broadcasts are aired directly from an anchor’s living room. All of this happened without skipping a beat.
In a nutshell, every business that is expected to survive COVID-19 found a way to engage their clients by pivoting to the internet, a thing many feared long ago due to the global reach it presented. My, how times have changed. Being everywhere and nowhere at the same time has rarely been a concept actualized until now.
With that, we welcome change and the unlimited, unexplored opportunities it has created.
Rita Green is the chief visionary officer and founder of Geaux Fig Co., a digital marketing and project management firm. Reach her at rita@geauxfig.com.