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0:00
Welcome to the 'Future Work Now:
The Rise of Remote Work' expert video series by Henry Stewart Talks.
This is the introduction to the series,
by the series editor Rowena Hennigan from TU Dublin.
0:15
During the response to the pandemic in 2020,
I recorded a business continuity disaster-recovery case study for Henry Stewart Talks,
looking at how remote work had come to the rescue
for many businesses and organizations across the globe.
In the process of that,
it became apparent that the world had changed really quickly during those months in 2020.
Due to this, we decided to create the Future Work Now,
Rise of Remote Work expert video series with Henry Stewart Talks.
0:51
My name is Rowena Hennigan.
I'm a remote-work skills lecturer and expert.
I work for the Technological University, Dublin,
and I'm remotely based in Spain,
working back to the University which is based in Ireland.
1:07
In terms of the global response to the pandemic (COVID-19),
many knowledge and office workers,
many computer workers, were sent home to work.
This was called 'the remote work experiment that nobody wanted',
and many people were forced to work from home during the global crisis.
As already mentioned, this was fantastic in terms of
business continuity and disaster recovery
in the way that it maintained business and operations,
but it was a forced work experiment that no one asked for,
as normal remote work often gives different options for locations.
During the compilation of this series
it was interesting to notice that as people were forced to work from home,
what happened as the restrictions began to lift after the pandemic,
or as safety improvements happened in various workplaces.
What would happen? Would workers and employers
and organisations decide to return to the office?
Would various leases and real estate arrangements have expired or been given up?
What was going to happen now that people potentially
had choice, as the world adapted to the pandemic?
