Negative Correlation between Working from Home and Computerization, and Avoiding Damage from COVID-19

This study investigates the negative correlation between the feasibility of working from home and the probability of computerization in the future. Accordingly, this study finds that some tasks that could be technologically computerized remain dependent on their costs and other factors in the pre-COVID-19 era, especially in service sectors. However, the reluctance to adopt information technology at the workplace obstructs immediate responses to decreasing the consumption demand due to COVID-19. Delayed computerization became apparent in the difference in sales when the COVID-19 pandemic was prevalent because social distancing was suddenly required. The results indicate that firms in the eating and drinking business that invested more in software during the pre-COVID-19 era were less affected by the pandemic, using data from the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan. Furthermore, computerization shifts skilled labor and results in a decrease in the number of non-regular employees, such as part-time and temporary workers