Will remote work be a long-term habit after the coronavirus?

People forced to work at home in China are saving time and money, but some say it also brings distractions and reduced efficiency

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Even in Hong Kong’s central business district, few people are seen on the streets as lunch hour approaches because of the coronavirus epidemic. (Picture: SCMP)

Xinmei Shen

Published: 9:31pm, 26 Feb 2020Updated: 9:31pm, 26 Feb 2020

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

While Silicon Valley might have embraced a flexible remote-work culture, workers in China have suddenly found themselves without a choice.

During the 2020 Lunar New Year, more than 18 million companies in China resorted to remote work online, with more than 300 million people using remote work apps, according to a report by Chinese research firm iiMedia.

Hashtags like “why am I more tired working from home” and “different states of working from home” have repeatedly become trending topics on Weibo. Pictures of people on their laptops while sitting on a washing machine or out in the wild have also found viral appeal.

“Our team is relying more than ever on group communication on WeChat, email updates, shared calendars and daily stand-up meetings on a quick call,” says Andrés Rodríguez, chief marketing officer at Beijing-based travel company Bespoke.

While workers turning to online tools have boosted office app makers like Alibaba, Tencent and Bytedance -- all of which have seen their products topping download charts -- some companies using those products say they’re benefiting from it.

(Abacus is a unit of the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba.)