As businesses embrace remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, work-from-home (WFH) policies will not only transform the workplace, but also have a significant impact on society.

I’ve mentioned before that employees already see WFH as the new normal. This expectation has profound implications for the way we work and live in the post-pandemic world.

Digital-first economy

According to VMWare SVP and Chief Customer Experience Officer Sumit Dhawan, adopting a remote-first work policy could lead to more diversity in the workplace and allow companies to better leverage talent.

“There are certain constraints that are put in place for talent. You sometimes are not able to find the best talent for the job because you put the requirements and constraints for how someone needs to be in a certain place,” Dhawan said in response to my question.

Dhawan was a panelist in today’s VMWare virtual press briefing. The software vendor announced enhancements to its Workspace ONE and VMware Cloud portfolios.

These enhancements will enable greater agility, innovation, and business resiliency for organizations in the Philippines as they adapt to a mobile and digital-first economy. VMWare will deliver these innovations through its partner ecosystem across the Philippines.

Diversity in the workplace

Embracing remote work was a reaction to the pandemic. Dhawan, however, said this has given us the opportunity to change our mindset as we adapt to the evolving workplace.

“Once you do that, how people make decisions and how people end up collaborating fundamentally changes from the older model of a homogeneous kind of workforce that likes not just being with each other at work, but also hanging out with each other,” he said.

“Diversity in the business and workplace comes in because of opportunities for different groups of people, whether it’s women who have just started a family, or people who are living in different parts of any particular country. They now get the change to participate in a work environment with fewer constraints that may have stopped them in the past. And of course those have societal impact, hopefully in a very positive way. Because then it creates this environment of more equity across different groups of citizens, to take part in the workplace and hopefully prosper not just economically, but also prosper in terms of what they wish and plan and desire to do with their lives,” Dhawan said.

Changing consumer behavior

Another effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it has encouraged more consumers to embrace digital. Many Filipinos, for example, have become used to a digital lifestyle. Consumer behavior has changed, and it’s unlikely to revert even after the pandemic ends.

“With all these changes on how we consume things comes the need for enterprises to really look into their technology and how this supports their business in getting to consumers. That’s why you’re seeing a lot of companies and individuals using digital to go directly to the consumers instead of the other way around,” Walter So, Country Manager of VMware Philippines, said in response to my question.

One of the products that VMWare enhanced is Workspace ONE. This provides all employees with a more secure digital workspace across any device, including personal mobile devices, desktops, and laptops.

Workspace ONE will help businesses:

• Build new ways of working. Workspace ONE can help companies develop and retain top talent by continually engaging employees with company information and leveraging curated notifications for corporate communications.
• Cultivate a remote-first experience. Workspace ONE helps organizations build a digital environment and manage employee policies that support the success of the most remote employee to enable every employee to be successful.

“As our customers continue to adapt their business and operational models to the evolving situation, the very concept of work has also changed accordingly. In this new normal, customers need employees who are able to work seamlessly in a secure environment, anywhere, anytime,” So said in a press statement.

By the way, I’m happy to note VMWare’s manifesto: “We believe in technology as a force for good.”

I share this belief, and look forward to building a better post-pandemic world.