A VIEW OF LIFE AFTER THE PANDEMIC

Among the forecasts: The work-from-home trend will last, and we’ll welcome more robots.

- SANDRA BLOCK

REMEMBER WHEN YOUR HOME was the place you went to relax after a long day at work? Now, that idea seems as quaint as June Cleaver’s habit of donning pearls and high heels to vacuum before Ward returned from the office. Since the COVID-19 pandemic has forced millions of people to hunker down, homes have become the place where we work, exercise, educate our children, enjoy (virtual) happy hour and catch a movie. And that trend is likely to linger long after the pandemic is under control, according to a forecast by Euromonitor International, a global market research firm.

Euromonitor International released its forecast of the most significant trends for 2020 at the beginning of the year but felt compelled to update it after COVID-19 upended the way we live and work. Some of the trends in the firm’s original forecast have accelerated, particularly the development of what Euromonitor calls the “multifunctional home.” While many young professionals were already moving away from traditional workplace culture, the pandemic forced millions of others to turn their homes into remote offices. The shift is expected to linger long after it’s safe to leave the house, says Alison Angus, head of lifestyles at Euromonitor.