CEOs are thinking about getting back to business, and the new normal will be really weird
By Erich Schwartzel, Alison Sider and Heather Haddon April 13, 2020 1:54 pm ET Walt Disney Co. reached a coronavirus milestone of sorts last month when it reopened a portion of its Shanghai Disney Resort as China’s pandemic began to ebb.
Some firms may bring office workers back in alternating groups to allow for social distancing in open-plan offices. Restaurant chains may operate at half capacity, installing plexiglas shields between booths, while stores may do away with tester cosmetics and sanitize items after customers try them on. Major League Baseball has discussed a season with no spectators, held in a part of the country where it can essentially sequester players for weeks at a time.
Extreme lockdowns in China have kept coronavirus numbers down, while in the U.S. cases continue to surge.5,000Sources: Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering; the Lancet; Associated Press Major airlines are discussing the feasibility of having passengers submit to temperature checks before boarding flights. It isn’t yet clear whether airlines or airport security would shoulder that task. Two weeks ago, American Airlines Group Inc. began asking frequent fliers and top corporate customers what it might take to get them comfortable with flying again. Their answer? Clean planes.
Manufacturers have redrawn factory floor plans and implemented processes, such as staggering shift workers or asking employees to take turns eating lunch in their cars to avoid cafeteria crowding, practices that may become standard as more plants come back online.Tyson, the biggest U.S. meat company by sales, is installing walk-through temperature scanners at its plants across the country and sending home workers showing potential Covid-19 symptoms, said Hector Gonzalez, Tyson’s head of U.S.
General Motors Co. is considering a number of options for testing workers for the virus and is prioritizing tests with quicker turnaround for results, said Jim Glynn, the auto maker’s global chief of workplace safety. That could include antibody testing, he said. Disney’s Shanghai attraction may offer some lessons for the rest of the company’s theme parks. Disneyland and Walt Disney World have now been closed for more days than every closure in their history combined. Disney is weighing several changes to its global parks operations before reopening to the public, including temperature checks for guests, according to people familiar with the situation.
Some firms may bring office workers back in waves to keep numbers low, or encourage employees to work from home a few days a week in rotation to allow for “de-densification,” she said. “Security changed forever after 9/11, and it’s going to happen to the workplace now,” Mr. Sarva said. The chain plans to keep the curbside, order-ahead business launched in response to coronavirus, along with the makeshift grocery stores to sell staples like bread, milk, and produce in 90% of its cafes—with delivery options. The 2,200 unit-chain owned by Krispy Kreme’s parent JAB is also considering building sites with smaller dining areas to give more room for the likely bigger to-go business.
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