When the government instituted the Work From Home (WFH) policy, many were sceptical of its viability. The obstacles were plethora, it was opined. Many industries needed a physical presence.
Those that did not, it was said, would be hampered by the less-than-stellar Internet coverage we have in the country, especially in non-urban settings. These were and are valid reasons.
There are, in fact, industries that require bodies to be present at workplaces. The policy, however, took this into account by putting a 30 per cent cap on physical work attendance and that, too, only for management. So, we moved along and many businesses and industries were kept afloat.
Now that the government has ended the WFH policy for the private sector, one can be forgiven if he thought everyone would be back in their respective offices running the rat race yet again. It would appear that working from home has actually become the norm and will likely remain so in post-pandemic Malaysia.
Most companies, it seems, have embraced the full WFH concept or a hybrid of office and home arrangement for their employees, with their mechanisms and settings already secured. And some corporate leaders want to continue promoting the WFH norm although they are no longer obliged to do so.
Why is this? First of all, there are still concerns that returning to the days of old, with everyone crammed into offices, may lead to another surge in Covid-19 infections. As it is now — despite a dip in our daily infection figures from the earlier numbers experienced during the height of the third wave — multiple clusters are appearing each day, the majority of which are workplace clusters.
We are in a comfortable position now and we expect the infection rate to decrease further. But to execute fully a Work From Office (WFO) policy would be folly. This is especially so, considering cases are increasing worldwide with new variants, said to be resistant to vaccines, such as the B.1.351 variant, which was first discovered in South Africa late last year. The fear of virus transmission and spread is very real.
What does it mean for Malaysia, post-pandemic? How will this new norm settle among Malaysians? A boon or bane? The one thing that the WFH policy has showed us is that it can be done. At the very least, a hybrid version of it will work sufficiently well.
With 5G technology and the National Digital Network, or Jendela, promising to increase Internet coverage and improve the nation's digital performance, things can only improve. Whether companies carry out their own version of the WFH policy depends on the views of the employers, although employees' feedback is equally important.
It will also have to depend on the nature of the job. Some have no choice but to follow a WFO policy. Frontliners, for instance, cannot do but be in the "office". The rest, can remain flexible.
This will likely not be the last pandemic or threat that will limit people's movements. At the end of the day, the compelling reason for either policy to be adopted would be to stay alert and safe.