Commercial real estate and retail have taken the brunt of the blow from COVID-19. No one really knows how, or if, those facilities are going to rebound.

One thing is for sure, companies are looking at the amount of office space they need and are looking at hybrid models. Here at MITC, we have reduced office space by 50  employees and allow most staff to work from home. Car dealerships are reducing show room space as more customers now pre-order on the internet. Here are a few things your company can do to come out of Covid stronger than before:

1. Focus efforts on critical infrastructure business, as defined by the Department of Homeland Security. Examples of these industries are distribution, logistics, healthcare, manufacturing, biopharma/life sciences, etc. Amazon warehouses and distribution centers are an obvious example. Education (schools, colleges) will most likely stay fully open long term.
2. Large commercial facilities have been outsourcing cleaning services for years. The facilities that still tend to have some degree of in-house staffing are universities, K-12 municipal schools, private schools and municipal buildings. Potential liability as it relates to Covid-19 and worker compensation makes outsourcing more attractive. Offer supplementing the in-house staff.
3. Make sure customers understand how you use technology. They are more likely to be interested in how contractors use technology for service delivery. Many of our customers make sure customers know about their No Show Alert system. Download the Competitive Advantages fact sheet to learn more.
4. Upgrade your hiring and on-boarding processes. There are a lot of employees not in the labor market due to Covid-19, but there is also a lot of churn. Make sure your hiring process is competitive.

More than 8 million people now have no unemployment compensation at all, while another 2.7 million lost the $300 federal weekly boost but will continue receiving state payments. They join the roughly 2.7 million cut off from some or all of their benefits in June or July after 24 states opted to terminate at least one of the programs early.

Though there are 10 million job postings in the US, hiring is not expected to improve dramatically, at least not right away, experts said. The labor markets did not greatly improve in the states that ceased benefits over the summer.

Benefits are not the only reason for hiring problems, though. Disrupted child care and health concerns are also major factors.

More than 5.5 million people said they are not working because they are caring for children who are not in school or day care, according to the most recent Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey, conducted in the first two weeks of August. Another 3.2 million said they are concerned about getting or spreading the coronavirus.

Economic uncertainty is also an issue. People are being thrown into the labor market at a time when the Delta variant is affecting consumers and businesses, said Andrew Stettner, senior fellow at The Century Foundation. The uptick in Covid-19 is prompting people to pull back on traveling and eating out. 

“We’ve protected people up until now from the real damage of long-term unemployment,” Stettner said. “Now we have to see whether this job market is really strong enough to keep people out of long-term harm at a time when people don’t have some of the other protections — like the housing protections — they had during the pandemic.”

Coronavirus Concerns Remain High for Some

Fear of the coronavirus has kept some from returning to the labor market. CNN conducted the following interviews.

Rebecca Ruiz started homeschooling her two young granddaughters after her husband died of Covid-19 earlier this year. Ruiz, who has custody of the girls, is worried they could bring the virus home to her – a chance she’s not willing to take.

After losing her husband to Covid-19, Rebecca Ruiz is home schooling her two granddaughters because she fears they could catch the coronavirus at school.

The $900 she received in unemployment payments every two weeks, coupled with Social Security benefits, helped the family survive – especially after they lost her husband’s income from his job at a supermarket. “Right now, all I can do is make my pennies stretch,” said Ruiz, who did office work for a trucking company that shuttered at the start of the pandemic. The California resident is now hoping to find a position that will allow her to work from home.

Meanwhile, some laid-off Americans report they aren’t getting interviews or offers despite sending out a multitude of resumes.

David Grein, who has worked in hospitality for more than 30 years, has been applying for jobs throughout the pandemic after losing his position as a chef at a retirement community in early 2020. Most of the postings call for less experience and offer a lower hourly wage than he’s made in the past. Grein, who turned 64 on Monday, suspects his age also plays a factor.

Though he’s applied for jobs throughout the pandemic, David Grein is having trouble finding work as a chef.

“I’m at the point that the gun is to my head regarding income. I have none,” he said, noting that he also needs employer health insurance to cover his diabetes care.

Workers at a hospital in Houston, TX have been suspended, and could potentially be fired, due to a company mandate requiring all hospital employees to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. This mandate has sparked protests from employees who have been suspended.

According to the Detroit Free Press, Houston Methodist CEO Marc Boom said the 178 workers represent less than 1% of almost 25,000 employees.

“We are nearly 100% compliant with our COVID-19 vaccine mandate,” Bloom said in an email to staff Tuesday. “Houston Methodist is officially the first hospital system in the country to achieve this goal for the benefit of its patients.”

Bloom said 27 of the 178 suspended workers have received one dose of vaccine, and that he is hopeful they will get the second dose. All are suspended for two weeks and are set to be fired if they fail to be fully vaccinated.

“I wish the number could be zero, but unfortunately, a small number of individuals have decided not to put their patients first,” Bloom said.

An additional 285 employees received a medical or religious exemption, and 332 were granted deferrals for pregnancy and other reasons.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued guidance saying employers have the right to require COVID-19 vaccination, citing a “direct threat” to others in the workplace.

Bloom said the science, along with data from 300 million doses already distributed in the U.S. alone, proves the vaccines are safe and necessary “if we are going to turn the corner against COVID-19.”

The number of positive cases and hospitalizations continue to drop across the nation continue to decline, he said, proving the vaccines’ effectiveness.

Houston Methodist isn’t the only place requiring vaccines, though. Hundreds of colleges, universities, nursing homes and hospitals are requiring staff and students to be vaccinated. These mandates have been challenged by some and praised by others, which is to be expected as the world recovers and opens up again.

Just like any other relationship, healthy business relationships are based on effective communication. In fact, organizations with effective internal communication practices are three and a half times more likely to significantly outperform their peers, according to a Towers Watson report. Communication helps managers at these organizations understand what motivates their employees and impart the company’s vision to them. It can also increase staff engagement levels, thereby improving the quality of work customers receive.

Why Effective Communication is Important

It improves service. Communication between managers, staff, and customers leads to quality services. Not only is it the cornerstone of a positive work environment that motivates employees, it also helps clients have confidence in the company.

It builds great teams. Unlike retail stores, contractors do not always work side-by-side. Many work at scattered job sites. After a while, workers can start to feel disconnected from the rest of the company, as if they work alone. Regular communication is critical for reminding these employees that they are part of a team.

It boosts productivity. The better your communication, the less time you spend resolving conflicts and sorting out misunderstandings. You and your team can focus more of your time doing meaningful work. Furthermore, employees can start each day confident they know what they are doing and how it contributes to the company’s goals.

Why Use Contractor-Specific Communication Software?

Detailed reports. Unlike emails, texts, or phone calls, communication software maintains a trail of records for you. You can easily run reports to see all supply requests, incident write-ups, requisitions, and other communication types sorted by employee or job. You never need to fear losing an incident report or any other type of communication.

Automatic list maintenance. Need to send a message to those working at a particular location? Rather than shuffling through the schedule to find the names, try using a messaging application that finds those people for you based on your criteria. For example, you can alert everyone who works at a specific job site about new procedures that affect them by selecting that job site, instead of talking to everyone individually. This ensures that each message goes to the right people, while saving you time.

Fewer expenses. Contractor-specific communication software is often less expensive than a professional email account. On average, organizations can expect to pay at least $5/month per person for email addresses. But communication software, which is different from email, can cost just a fraction of that amount. Moreover, your employees can be automatically enrolled upon hire and removed upon termination — no pesky list management necessary!

Why not use a free email provider like Gmail, you may ask? While cost is no concern with free email accounts, they simply don’t have any of the required features contractors need for effective communication. For example, they are cumbersome to manage, they do not capture the location of the sender (to confirm the job site), and their use cannot be restricted. And since turnover is so high right now, companies could spend a lot of time maintaining accounts.

Conclusion

In today’s fast-paced world, communication plays an essential role in our personal and working lives. For contractors, the right communications platform will connect managers, employees, and administration to streamline services. When everyone in the company is engaged and connected, retention rates and customer experience improve.