When the pandemic hit the global economy in March, business travel was estimated to lose $820 billion in revenue. Under the best scenario, businesses were expected to reopen in late spring or early summer.

As we entered into the summer, indicators showed travel and hospitality businesses were picking up, but we all knew travel recovery would not occur until people are taking business trips again. "Travel, as we knew it, is over," concluded by Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky.

Now in October, we still have not contained the coronavirus. To make it worse, new COVID-19 cases now surge again across the US and Europe.

More companies let employees work from home permanently

Many states and countries have already lifted the stay-at-home orders in May. Schools and companies are taking a different stand, however. For example,

Twitter was the first U.S. major company that announced its permanent work-from-home plan in May.
Pinterest canceled a lease in an unbuilt project in San Francisco with a one-time $89.5 million fee, citing work-from-home shift.
In September, the 23 campuses in the California State University system also extended virtual learning through spring 2021.
Earlier this month, Microsoft told its employees that they could work from home permanently with manager approval.
Dropbox extended the company's mandatory work-from-home policy through June 2021. Furthermore, the company made remote work the standard practice.
What does the Gallup poll say about work from home?
Gallup just released a follow-up report last week about remote work with the latest September 14 - 27 polling data. The results suggest,
Remote work has reached its "ceiling"
- 51% of Americans being surveyed said they were "always" working remotely in April when tight restrictions were in place. The number dropped to 31% in September.
- 25% of Americans reported they were "sometimes" working remotely in September, as compared to 18% in April.
- 42% of Americans "never" worked remotely in September, an 11percentage point increase from April.