Did the world ever imagine a time (so close), which would change the shape of entire economy?
Entire humanity? “Pandemic” only used to be a short “last” chapter of our courses which was
generally meant for skipping for most of us! Who knew this chapter of our course will become
a reality one day!! Obviously, nobody was prepared, no one imagined but everyone now is
creating HISTORY..
It’s absolutely crazy to see a complete 180-degree economic turn in a span of just, a few
DAYS!! This has left no sector unhurt and the economy is expected to see the greatest
depression of all times. Unlike the 2008 global crisis, which had hit only the demand side,
COVID-19 crisis is killing both the sides equally and badly!
In the current times, we see a southward movement across all business functions. CMIE (Centre
for Monitoring Indian Economy) states the unemployment rates have already hit double digits
in the Week 1 of lockdown and we can only expect the percentage to go up looking at how
things are unfolding! Who’s the worst affected? The freshers? The mid management? Or the big
shots? This would need a more business specific introspection, but to summarize, the ones
who are at the non-billable side of the business, or more commonly, ones in the support
functions, are certainly the “worst hit”! Support functions, as the name itself says,
supports the business to grow and has no direct impact on the revenue of the organization.
In the current crisis; where the news is flooded with unemployment figures hitting the peak;
situation calls for an approach where we save the sinking ship first. Human Resources,
Talent Acquisition (TA), Recruitment, Marketing, Advertising, Branding, Facilities etc., to
name a few, might see a more serious slowdown vis-a-vis the ones who are directly adding to
the revenue.
Hiring / recruitment / offers are usually the first thing to go “on hold” to cut down cost in
any business at any time. And in this time of crisis where the entire economy is expected to
see a dipping GDP, saving the business becomes a priority for many, especially the MSME
sector. Does this mean the business support functions have no future now? Is the job safe?
Do they need to panic? Not really, there’s no dearth of ideas to innovate in the world!!
There are industries which, amid the crisis, see (or are expected to see) a never imagined
growth in times to come. Education, E-gaming, Agriculture and Medical industries are the
ones at the top of my mind for now. And when there is an industry, there has to be an
organization and where there’s an organization, it definitely will need some “Support”.. It
is just a matter of time (which shall definitely pass), and I’m sure it’ll take no time for
these functions to BOUNCE BACK!
Onus is on us to decide how can we leverage this opportunity and make the best possible use
of our capabilities and potential. True – “Change is the only constant” and hence,
undoubtedly, our ability to adapt to the change has to remain constant (to the minimum) or
rather grow!!
