There is a significant amount of uncertainty circulating the novel Coronavirus. As experts try to contain a pandemic, researchers try to create a vaccine, and economists try to predict what is going on in the stock market: the average American is merely trying to understand how the Coronavirus is going to affect their day to day life.
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One can start to decipher how the novel virus is going to affect the lives of professionals from the insights gathered from an employee user survey ran on Blind, an anonymous professional network. With over 3.2M work-email verified professionals, Blind spent the week asking users questions regarding their company’s work from home policies, the impact of the Coronavirus in the workplace, and the hesitance and productivity of professionals due to the outbreak.
Backlash Towards Employees Of Chinese Descent
The first survey asked: “Have you witnessed any backlash towards employees of Chinese descent at your company after the coronavirus outbreak? and “Do you think the Chinese government is handling the coronavirus outbreak effectively?”. There were a total of 7,311 participants, and the survey ran between 2/01/20-2/25/20. Through the findings, it was discovered that 20% of Chinese citizens had witnessed backlash towards employees of Chinese descent at their company after the coronavirus outbreak.
Next, Blind began to survey their users regarding their hesitance to go into their office and their productivity. Over the days, a trend became apparent: as more people are becoming afraid, they think it is also negatively affecting their productivity with a rising trend. On March 1st, 36% of professionals responded that their productivity is adversely affected by the spread; the number has risen to 47.3% in just three days. As of Wednesday, the fear of going to work is escalating. Adding to this trend in the dates, there were a total of 5,942 participants, and the survey ran between 3/01-3/04. 67.8% of professionals responded that they are hesitant to go to work, and the number has risen to 76.1% in just three days.
Big Tech Companies Encouraging Employees To Work From Home
According to CNN, Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft are all encouraging employees in the Seattle area to work from home due to concerns about the novel Coronavirus as the outbreak in Washington grows. As of this morning, More than 76.1% of Amazon professionals are working from home. However, Only 30% of google professionals are working from home. This statistic is consistent with the response showing that Google employees are largely dissatisfied with their company’s response to the Coronavirus.
While there is still a lot of fear around the spreading of the Coronavirus, it is comforting that a platform like Blind exists where employees can freely voice their opinions and share their experiences. During this turbulent time, Blind is serving as a valuable tool for professionals to share information, express their expectations, and keep employers accountable for their employees.
