I've often believed that this is the main way to reach global carbon emission targets. There will be a massive clamour for this now following this. Pandora's box has been opened and companies aren't going to be able to say that it can't be done.
A couple of other things I think you'll see:
- People being forced to actually use their paid sick days (if they have them). We had a guy in our work a few years ago, who had a nagging cough that lasted three months. Probably would have lasted more than a week or two, if the fucker wasn't a martyr who feels the need to work all the time. I think if someone has the slightest cough or cold now, you're going to have to managers pushing for employees to stay at home/work from home until its cleared.
- The cheap holidays will go as the airlines raise prices
Agree with a number of your list.
On working from home/staying home with mild symptoms, completely agree. The 'martyrs' have always really annoyed me. I've generally been lucky at my current company to have managers (though not all colleagues) relaxed about WFH if you're not 100%. I ended up WFH most of December and January because of a couple of IBS flare ups, then a bug in early February and then did so for the last couple of weeks before the company enforced it. Furloughed since the end of March, I think I've been to the office less than 10 times in about 4 months.
Holidays are weird... it's the industry I work in, and it isn't structured to survive events like this. The sector has already warned the government that the 2018 Package Travel Regulations need to be suspended. Every customer of a holiday cancelled by the operator is entitled to a cash refund within 14 days; companies simply don't have the admin capacity to process this volume of refunds that quickly, and don't have the cash reserves to make the refunds.
Short haul holidays could remain cheap - most of the air travel costs are fixed, and capacity is probably too high (and just like WFH, business travel must surely decline in response). The mediterranean is overflowing with hotel capacity (especially if North Africa/Turkey regains some political stability).
Long haul may change significantly. There were some signs on social media of real anger in places like the Caribbean as tourists from countries with growing COVID-19 rates continued to board planes - and then flout or complain about local lockdowns. As the planes stopped, economies entirely dependent on tourism have ground to a halt; hotel staff laid off without furlough schemes, small local businesses entirely dependent on non-existent visitors, big tour operators balking at paying for late summer contracted rooms when they've already paid for unused capacity in March, April and May.
I do need to get out of the industry. I have no 'passion' for it, and there's plenty about it I don't like. It's only going to get worse.