Sixteen months after the coronavirus shut down society, life is slowly heading back to normal, but it is a new normal, with major changes to company operations post-pandemic.

From the rise of digital commerce and telework to the need for greater resilience, there’s much that has changed because of the pandemic, and faculty from Cal State Fullerton’s College of Business and Economics looked at these shifts in light of their individual disciplines in accounting, finance, information systems and marketing.

Among these faculty members is Associate Professor of Economics Kristin Kleinjans, who suggests COVID-19 has driven home the need for a re-evaluation of workplace policies.

“COVID-19 has shown business leaders that policies aimed at improving people’s lives are also good for their company’s bottom line. It has also shown Americans that we ignore inequality and its consequences at our own peril,” she says.

“Mandated paid sick leave, health insurance and a livable minimum wage would level the playing field and disrupt the market advantage of companies who take advantage of their workers. Women have carried much of the burden the pandemic has placed on families. As a result, a record number of women have dropped out of the labor force, worsening staff shortages and costly employee turnover. Fortunately, women’s unemployment rates have recovered faster than expected. But the pandemic’s differential effects on women and men will increase gender inequality in income and labor market outcomes if they are not addressed.”

Read more about the varying CSUF business faculty pandemic perspectives, as well as what they recommend for informative reading, in this Titan Magazine article.