Never before has a public health crisis caused so much disruption in both the personal and business worlds. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented level of chaos as companies were forced to deal with massive layoffs, customer and revenue uncertainty, and severe supply chain disruptions. And, to boot, both workers and leaders were faced with incredible anxiety over personal health concerns, homeschooling/daycare concerns, and a new “work-from-anywhere” experiment that was sure to test the limitations of corporate flexibility and productivity.

Over eight months into this global pandemic and finally there is a semblance of a light at the end of this proverbial tunnel: pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and newcomer Moderna both released early results this week regarding their respective COVID-19 vaccines, with both hovering near 95% efficacy during each company’s respective global trials (to set the stage a bit more, the annual influenza typically reaches 70% efficacy). A much-wanted end to the pandemic it is not, however, as many countries around the globe face a late autumn and early winter surge that will test health care systems and the patience of nearly everyone.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have two tight links to the Future of Work, based on not only how these vaccines were developed using innovative technology and thinking, but also how the availability of the drugs will transform how businesses plan for the year ahead.

#1: The very methods used to develop this vaccine were innovative and first-of-its-kind.

A quick primer on mRNA vaccines from The New York Times:

“Pfizer and Moderna used the same basic design to build their vaccines. Both vaccines contain a genetic molecule called messenger RNA, which is wrapped in an oily bubble. The bubble can fuse to a muscle cell and deliver the RNA. Encoded in that molecule are instructions for building a single coronavirus protein called spike. When a vaccinated cell releases copies of the spike protein, the immune system learns to make antibodies against it.

While scientists have investigated mRNA vaccines for years, no vaccine has yet been licensed as safe and effective to use in people. When Moderna and other vaccine makers began designing mRNA vaccines for coronaviruses, skeptics wondered how well they would work. The two preliminary reports from both Moderna and Pfizer suggest this type of vaccine may work very well. Neither trial has uncovered serious side effects from the vaccines, although studies on their safety are continuing.”

What’s the key concept here? That’s right: innovation. Innovation is incredibly prevalent in the world of medicine, especially as pharmaceutical firms and health care systems research cures for severe diseases and improve the overall quality of human life. However, what’s very interesting about the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines is that they are first-of-its-kind mRNA vaccines that have never been fully-developed before.

Innovation is the cornerstone of the Future of Work movement. The bright scientists at both manufacturers were faced with a tall task, thought outside of the box, harnessed new technology, and now, we are closer to putting this global crisis behind us. Sounds a lot like the Future of Work, doesn’t it?

#2. Promising vaccine news will allow businesses to begin deeper planning for 2021.

As we discussed on this week’s Contingent Workforce Weekly podcast, the promising vaccine news paints a more vivid picture of how business, the global economy, and public health will look in 2021. If businesses believe that there will be a more positive outlook for the earlier months of 2021 rather than later in the year, they can appropriately staff, budget, forecast, and plan for the months ahead.

First and foremost, the work from home experiment can fully come to fruition. Organizations don’t have to dance around the “workers can come back to the office by so-and-so date” logic and begin to plan strategically around how they want their office infrastructure to look. They can measure the true productivity of their workforce within the work-from-anywhere approach and develop hybrid models or whichever strategy would work best (safety- and productivity-wise) for the office environment in 2021.

Also, as we highlighted on this week’s podcast, there are other workforce, staffing, and business planning perspectives at stake given the promising vaccine news, including:

• How to best adapt products and services based on 2020 experiences and expected “next normal” attributes that will shape 2021.
• How to effectively institute empathy-led leadership as a direct result of managing through the multifaceted crisis of the past eight-plus months.
• Why predictive analytics and scenario-building efforts could provide more educated and intelligent decision based on updated/expected market data.
• Why diversity and inclusion are critical aspects to tackle, and;
• When to initiate direct sourcing/talent pool strategies knowing that there will most likely be scaling of the workforce in mid-2021 (or sooner).

Tagged in: Chief Procurement Officer, Christopher Dwyer, Complex Categories, Contingent Workforce, People, Strategy, Technology