It’s no secret that COVID-19 has pushed most companies to rethink the way that they do business. The raging pandemic shook up every corner of the business world from day one. From minor adjustments to full-blown pivots, enterprises across the globe have had to adapt at terrific speed.
Smaller companies have often been the focal point of these stories. How are the countless Davids surviving with all of this change? But what about the Goliaths? How are giant companies handling the crisis? Here are a few of the biggest ways global firms have reacted to the coronavirus pandemic over the last year.
Going Fully Remote
The remote-first revolution was the number one biggest response to the pandemic. The number of large companies that shifted to virtual offices overnight was staggering. Never before has such a mass migration into the tech world taken place in such a short time.
The shocking part is how well larger companies managed to adapt. Bigwig operations like Google and Facebook sent employees home and then carried on with business — though not as usual. Leadership had to find virtual-based solutions for every aspect of business that hadn’t been remote before the shift. Basic activities such as communication and collaboration shifted to the cloud. HR departments had to implement online solutions for challenges like recruitment, onboarding, and even international payroll.
As time passed, some companies began itching for a return to in-person workplaces. However, once they were over the initial growing pains, many organizations found the remote shift liberating. It didn’t take long before companies like Twitter and Shopify began leading the way to a full-time work-from-home revolution. They had managed to build a solid infrastructure for everything from remote offices to virtual call centers. The additional savings that came with a lack of office space made the fully-remote option too alluring.
In many ways, remote work may end up being more than a pandemic-related shift. It may end up being the change that doesn’t go away once the world goes back to normal.
Revolutionizing Tradition
When the pandemic started, many larger companies found their stereotypical forms of business outdated overnight. The coronavirus was particularly harsh on the restaurant industry. Indoor eating and socializing are key dining factors that couldn’t exist in a quarantine.
It was a problem that threatened to sink even the most well-established food-industry chains. Case in point: Denny’s. The international diner franchise seemed poised to fall when its sales dropped by nearly 20% in the first month of the pandemic.
However, its resilient leadership refused to surrender to the circumstances. It cast about for a creative way out of the quandary and struck on several. For starters, the chain offered curbside pickup and free delivery. Taking things even further, it started creating meal kits to assemble at home. Some locations even began offering cheap groceries for pickup in an attempt to help those struggling around them. Denny’s fearlessness to shift in the face of catastrophic change has kept the organization alive and well, even throughout a pandemic.
Lending a Helping Hand
Some larger businesses opted to do more than just change how they operate. They adjusted their marketing messages, as well. Amazon is a good example. The truth is, the world’s largest online retailer remained poised to soak up sales regardless of their marketing efforts. Nevertheless, the company decided it would also be beneficial to cash in on a bit of small business nostalgia.
Many of its ads began to express the company as a friend to small businesses. This allowed the e-commerce giant to position itself as a friend to smaller companies that were struggling to keep up with COVID restrictions. The savvy move helped to soften the retail giant’s image in the public eye. However, it should be noted that the “big brother to small businesses” marketing strategy has drawn scrutiny as well.
Hiring to Handle Demand
The COVID-19 pandemic created a toxic atmosphere for small- and even medium-sized businesses. Most smaller enterprises operate on razor-thin margins. Few, if any, were ready for an economic catastrophe of this scale. Shuttered stores and laid-off employees were the inevitable results.
In the big business world, the script was often flipped. The virus cleared out a sea of smaller competitors, leaving larger corporations to scoop up their customers. This natural migration of customers left countless larger organizations struggling to manage. The sudden uptick in demand was severe for many companies. The areas of e-commerce and essential businesses were particularly strained.
This led many larger global firms to begin a robust hiring spree. This helped them handle the demand. At the same time, it also provided work for hundreds of thousands of unemployed laborers. For example, in the first month alone, companies like Walmart and CVS created a hiring surge of over 800,000 new employees.
Changing Production
Many companies reacted to the crisis by adapting current activities. Others went remote or increased their workforce to accommodate higher demand. However, some firms took things even further by pivoting right out of their current industry.
General Motors was at the forefront of this movement. Vehicles were still needed, but their demand would likely decline, at least temporarily, in a remote-first pandemic. Rather than waiting to see its sales slump, the enterprise made an abrupt pivot into the world of ventilator production.
There were already projections that there wouldn’t be enough of these critical pieces of medical equipment. GM’s response was to use its expansive manufacturing capabilities to produce more. The government added to this emphasis by awarding the company a contract just shy of $500 million. This was provided on the condition that they would make 30,000 ventilators by the end of August.
The ambitious contract was an excellent move. It allowed the company to continue operating. It also provided work for countless employees. In addition, the ability to contribute to such an important project was a great PR initiative. The fact that they delivered the last ventilator on the final day of August only made the positive repercussions that much better.
Large companies have found countless ways to use their vast resources and ingenuity to navigate the pandemic. Some have not just survived but actually managed to save money by going remote. Others have adjusted traditional business methods to keep their operations alive. Still others have tailored marketing content, hired extra employees, or even pivoted right out of their field of expertise. Whatever the case, there’s no doubt that many of the larger global firms have been able to deal with COVID-19 with aplomb.