The economic impact of the coronavirus is likely to hit Hawaii harder than most places. With cruises gaining lots of unpopular press coverage at present, and fewer people willing to travel to public places, let alone air conditioning aeroplanes and buses, Hawaii’s economic foundation – tourism, is likely to take a big hit this summer.
The fear and uncertainty of businesses having to close down or handle large-scale sickness has also led to a huge increase across in Hawaii; and the rest of the World, in remote working. This enforced a large scale experiment to test the feasibility of remote working has at least, so far had a positive impact on the environment thanks to a significant drop in automobile-generated carbon monoxide emissions.
A Shift in Working Behaviour
If remote working proofs to be successful, this could see a significant shift in working behaviours for a huge number of businesses. Moreover, the shift could also have a huge impact on an employees’ typical lifestyle. No more queuing in busy traffic for hours per day, less stress, more leisure time and no need for startups to invest in expensive office space and facilities.
The worldwide increase in remote working has created an industry sector of its own. With job websites such as WeWorkRemotely obtaining more visitors on a week by week basis and service providers such as Moneypenny virtual receptionists and Zoom video conferencing now employing over 3,000 members of staff between them. With fast internet and access to cloud documents available now in almost all areas of Hawaii, remote-working on scale has a viable future on the island.
Hawaii Has Been Attracting Remote Workers for Years
As Hawaii increased the Coronavirus funding request to $10.5 million; organisations such as Proservice are recommending that workers with symptoms of ‘acute respiratory illness’ should stay at home and work remotely if possible and that employers should put together an emergency remote-work plan.
Hawaii is a special island, with visitors from around the world attracted here for the laid-back vibe, the surf and the general beauty that has made it famous. For this reason, remote-working-entrepreneurs have been working from Hawaii for years. Either as part of an international trip or sabbatical or as a permanent resident.
The travel-and-work via a laptop scenario has become so popular in the last decade that the behaviour has developed its own noun – “Digital Nomad”. With Hawaii a must-visit destination for any traveller worth their salt, it’s not unusual to see a nomadic programmer, writer or blogger in the local café, kava bar or beach.
A Positive Environmental Impact
Whilst there is some fear that longer-term; a global economic slump or entire meltdown could have adverse consequences for the investment in renewable energy startups and other environmentally conscious businesses, in the short term at least, the rise in remote working has seen a sharp drop in automobile carbon emissions across those countries already affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
It is hoped that if the increase in remote-working does not negatively impact productivity, it may be a trend that is continued post-corona-hysteria.