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thesevillereport · 4 years ago

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In Focus: Work From Home is Far From Over

First A Story, "Change is Tough"

“Just email me,” said the clerk to another clerk. “Bet,” the other clerk responded. “Why don’t you just walk over to his department and talk to him about the issue,” asked the clerk’s manager, “I don’t get you all and this email stuff, it’s just easier to talk face-to-face” the manager added.

That was a conversation had all over the world in the mid to late 90’s. How we communicated was changing during that time, it was becoming quicker, but there was an old guard, a population of people that didn’t want to adapt, they wanted to talk face-to-face, even when an email would suffice.

This change is happening again. There are people in the workforce who are exhausted by Zoom Meetings and Google Meets, and have bitched, moaned, and complained about the day when they can get back into the office. But there’s a population that is being shaped by the work-from-home and learn-from-home experiment. They not only embrace it, they love it. This population will usher in the permanent work-from-home and learn from home movement as their influence in the workplace grows.

Why is This Important to Investors

Over the past few weeks the world has received positive news from Pfizer (PFE) and Moderna (MRNA) regarding their COVID-19 vaccines, and with each of those reports the work-from-home stocks took a slight dip in price.

On November 6, 2020, a few days preceding the Pfizer announcement Zoom Video (ZM) closed at $500.11 per share. On November 9 the day of Pfizer's announcement Zoom gapped down and opened trading at $433.00 per share. The selling pressure pushed the stock down to as low as $402 per share on the day.

A similar situation occurred with Chegg (CHGG), a winner for investors in the learn-from-home space. Chegg closed trading on November 6 at $77.23 per share, the stock gapped down on the 9th of November to $71.51, dropping 7% on the Pfizer news.

Investors have been quick to move their money from the work-from-home and learn-from-home space on any good news of a possible vaccine, but I don't think this is a wise move for the long-term investor.

We're Getting Better at Being Apart

Social media changed things, it gets a bad rap, some of it it deserves, but a lot of it is on us. But moving away from the bad, social media added another layer of things to do with your computer, it made the computer a communication device for people who weren't computer scientists. Even before Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tok Tock, and SnapChat, there was AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) and Yahoo's instant messenger, and both helped connect non-computery people digitally.

In the days before every kid was able to own a smartphone, teenagers were using AIM and Yahoo Instant messenger to connect with their friends and peers. Instant messengers morphed into social media platforms, and smart phones allowed us to have access to those platforms at all times, Twitter is just AIM on acid. With every new advancement in digital communication, we get a little more comfortable with non face-to-face communication.

But Everybody is Dying to Get Back to Work

Yes, there are a lot of people complaining that it isn't the same, and that they miss the interaction, and they miss being in the office, and they miss being away from their spouse and kids for some time during the day. But investors should keep in mind that the reason we don't hear from the people who like working from home is because they're not complaining.

I've talked to people on both sides of the spectrum, those that feel less productive at home and others that feel even more productive working from home. Those that miss the camaraderie formed at the office, and those that are ecstatic about the money they've saved working from home, and hope to continue doing so.The main difference I've noticed between the two sides is that those who are over the work-from-home experiment have been more vocal about their desire to get back into the office, but the loudest voice doesn't necessarily speak for everyone.

I believe that we've grown more accustomed to the digital buffers we have in our life, than we care to admit to ourselves and others.

What Does the Money Say?

The money says that it's okay with people working from home. Earnings from America's best companies continue to be strong - even to my disbelief - and investors continue to bid up the stock prices of these companies that continue to show strong earnings in 2020. Companies have adapted and found ways to be productive and thrive in a work-from-home environment.

I read where a person in charge of securing business deals for a small biotech company went from spending three days to close a business deal or partnership deal down to five or six hours to close deals via Zoom. Gone are the two flights to the destination and back, gone are the hotel stays, gone are the expensed dinners. Now it's just him and his counterpart from the other company on a Zoom call with no distractions, talking to see if a deal makes sense and then doing the deal if it does make sense.

This new way of doing business equates to thousands of dollars saved for this small biotech firm. For an S&P 500 company that's millions of dollars a year being moved from the cost of revenue line down to the operating profits line on an income statement, and that's a big win for investors.

Also, for that person in charge of business deals for the biotech firm. Going from three days to close a deal down to five or six hours, gives him an additional two days to work on securing more deals.

Don't Be a YoYo

The markets and certain stocks have yo-yo’d off of news regarding a COVID-19 vaccine. Investors believe that once the vaccine is here, approved, and deemed safe and efficient people will ditch their couches and Netflix binge sessions for late nights out with friends and family. I share the belief that certain companies are going to explode with business when we beat COVID-19, but I’m not writing off Zoom, Slack, and other work-from-home and learn-from-home stocks, and neither should you. I'm not saying that everyone will permanently work from home forever, but I do see it being an option in many work places going forward, and an option many employees will exercise.

Working-from-home and learning-from-home has exposed some gaps in our infrastructure, and I expect the great minds of Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and other places to plug those gaps in the coming years. I would suggest that investors not forget about work-from-home and learn-from-home stocks as we get closer to a vaccine, but instead start looking for the next generation of these companies.

#stocks #investing #money #wall street #stock market #investment education #financial education #money education #workFromHome #LearnFromHome #zoom #ZoomMeetings #Google Meets #Investments

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thisdaynews · 4 years ago

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BREAKING:8 Persons burnt to death in Lagos-Ibadan expressway accident.

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/breaking8-persons-burnt-to-death-in-lagos-ibadan-expressway-accident/

BREAKING:8 Persons burnt to death in Lagos-Ibadan expressway accident.

University lecturers in Nigeria may soon have to start looking for new jobs as our students enroll in Princeton or Harvard.

And, no, I am not talking about the current struggle with the federal government or the ongoing strike – I am talking about the very real threat of online education.

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When the revolution comes, our lecturers will be scrambling for positions as teaching assistants to Harvard professors.

My attention was recently drawn to an article published in 2013 in The American Interest titled “The End of the University as We Know It” written by Nathan Harden. In that article, Harden speaks of how Information Technology (IT) is set to change forever the way higher education is delivered.

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The physical classroom will slowly disappear because degrees will be offered online as students begin to take classes from the comfort of their favourite chair at home.

Think about it, students could attend Princeton or Harvard at a fraction of the cost of a Nigerian university degree.

These are some of the most exclusive schools on the planet. When Harden wrote that article in 2013, his predictions seemed a little way off – nobody thought COVID-19 would happen.

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Now, the world is faced with the very real possibility that the university – as a physical space with students, professors and deans – will soon become a thing of the past.

The beauty of online courses is that they cost about half of what it costs to receive the same in a classroom.

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They are flexible, and can be fitted to the student’s convenience. Students can also pick and choose, mix and match courses according to their interests without having to adhere to a fixed, predetermined syllabus.

It takes a much shorter time to conclude a course online so that what takes a three-month semester in a regular classroom to complete can be completed in mere weeks.

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Four-year degrees will shrink to a maximum of two. Nightmare lecturers and supervisors will be a thing of the past. Running desperately from one lecture hall to another so as to get a seat for your next class will be no more.

Packed and stuffy classrooms will become folklore. Photocopies will become antiquated.

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The struggle for hostel space and coping with “squatters” will fade into a bad memory.

Transport fare is no longer a cause for anxiety. Your worries about being poorly dressed while your peers are wearing the snazziest outfits are over – with online courses, you don’t even have to take a bath before attending classes.

You can go to school in your pyjamas. How cool is that! Currently, there are hundreds of free courses being offered online by some of the most prestigious universities in the world and our students have been tapping into this resource for years.

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Two of the big players in this field are CHGG (Chegg) and COURSERA. According to Oliver Garre, “the global online education market was worth less than $19 billion last year.

By 2025, it’s projected to be a $350 billion industry. In other words it’s poised to grow 18-fold over the next five years!”

Damien Roberts (Seeking Alpha,, Sep. 15, 2020) writes that “There’s over 43 million different pieces of content and textbook solutions” on Chegg alone.

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The biggest change is set to happen, however, as universities make the move from mere course offerings to degrees earned online.

Yes, students will be able to earn their Bachelors, Masters and PhDs online. No passport, no VISA.

All one needs is a certified university email and that’s it. Students will expect to pay a fee for the certificate of course, but this will be a tiny amount compared to the millions of naira that Nigerians pay to study abroad.

These degrees will become affordable for the average Nigerian student, and without all the hassle of getting a degree in a Nigerian university.

Already, in many parts of the world, lectures have continued online while Nigeria is still grappling with the problem of how to make its campuses safe.

The Nigerian government cannot insist that its lecturers do the same since we do not have the required facilities or infrastructure.

Even electrical power is a big problem with some places in the country suffering from blackouts for days. So, even if lecturers are willing to teach live classes online, many of their students will not be able to attend these classes.

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Add to this the fact that data charges are extremely high and many of our students cannot afford live classes.

Unless the government is prepared to provide free WiFi in accessible areas such as on all university and college campuses, online teaching may not be feasible in this country.

The bad news is that once the topnotch universities start awarding degrees online, everybody will want to go there.

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What, then will be the fate of Nigerian (and other less prestigious) universities? Our universities might well end up becoming nothing more than exam centres for these high-end universities.

Our lecturers will be scrambling for positions as teaching assistants to Harvard professors.

Since the size of online classes can run into the hundreds of thousands, our lecturers might also get jobs as graders and exam supervisors, certainly not as instructors since those positions will be taken up by staff of more prestigious universities.

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It will be tough for a Nigerian academic to get a word in edgewise.

The competition will be fierce, to put it mildly. This will also mean the end of our universities as we know them.

With students going for affordable online degrees from Harvard or Yale, Nigerian universities will start turning into ghost towns.

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So all the expansion and construction going on across Nigerian universities might soon end up being a waste of money as universities of the future will require less and less space, and far fewer buildings.

Those universities that survive might need to have some very good vocational learning centres for teaching vocations such as carpentry, woodwork, blacksmithing, dressmaking, cookery, pottery, hairdressing, and the like, along with adult education for the aged who just cannot operate a computer.

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Regular students certainly won’t be coming for academics! Even if Nigeria awards degrees to its students for free, only the most poverty-ridden students will go to Nigerian universities because “more prestigious” degrees will be affordable online.

Some will even be totally free! The implications of this are enormous.

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As we make the move online, individuals, families, societies, unions, communities, social life, friendships, relationships and many other things that we have taken for granted so far will change. But that is a discussion for another day.

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