Before the quarantine, just 1.6% of Argentine workers worked remotely, according to data from the International Labor Organization (ILO). Consultants estimate that 970,000 people have been using this modality.
Of that total, 170,000 did not attend the office directly or did so very occasionally, while the remaining 800,000 were mixed teleworkers. In other words, they combine remote tasks with classroom ones.
Although the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security determined in the first days of March an exceptional license to enable the home office, the Government ended up decreeing "social, preventive and compulsory isolation", so the use of the modality was Shooting.
According to Telecom, the use of video conferencing applications increased 110% during the quarantine, while traffic on virtual private networks (VPNs) grew more than 30%. Meanwhile, Adecco notes that 50% of companies authorized this modality for all those positions that can do so.
"Right now, remote work is an imperative, governments and companies have no alternative but to promote and implement it for the good of the people and business continuity," Silvina Moschini, president and founder of TransparentBusiness, tells iProUP.
Teleworking options have been available for several years, but as communications have improved, those options have become more efficient and economical for organizations. Security aspects have also evolved through, for example, the use of VPN to guarantee access and secure information flow.
"In our opinion, the problem is not so related to technology but rather to the cultural and process aspects of companies. Working remotely requires a collaborative work culture and the provision of processes that facilitate sharing information between different areas of the company and, obviously, have their applications prepared for this modality, "Alejandro Bianchi, President of Liveware IS, tells iProUP.
The options that firms can use are varied and oriented to their size and peculiarities of the operation: from highly sophisticated systems, such as those offered by companies like Cisco, to relatively low-cost or free products, such as Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts and Drive , Zoom and Skype, among others.
"At headquarters, where we have 250 collaborators, we had been developing teleworking with great success for more than a year. The emergency found us with more than 100 remote people, so we were able to quickly replicate our scheme to the rest of the staff and headquarters, "Marcos González Bibolini, Camuzzi Human Resources Manager, points out to iProUP.
The executive adds that they use "portable PCs for all the staff at Headquarters and part of the interior of the country so that they can access all the files and systems used in each position as if they were in the office."
Gabriela Kurincic, Head of Productivity at Havas, tells iProUP: "Remote work is a challenge because it is a company with a number close to 400 people connected in Argentina".
This firm has external data centers, cloud storage, tools to share files and update them online, server monitoring systems that allow detecting if something is wrong, remote connection via cell phone and data protection, and a platform for request technical assistance from "tickets". For the connection and interaction of the staff and the development of videoconferences use Teams. "Although we already had remote accesses via VPN, we implemented Cisco Webex Teams and Cisco Webex Meetings, which were key for communication and, especially, to sustain the frequency of project follow-up meetings," says Sandro Cosentino, RR manager. HH. From Newsan.
However, he stresses that the main challenge is "integrating those roles that do not usually operate with a PC, specifically those who perform manual tasks", since "a notebook cannot supplant the infrastructure of a production machinery".
The banking sector was also forced to change its way of working. BBVA Argentina was able to adapt quickly and efficiently to government measures. "Currently, 90% of the collaborators in central areas are carrying out their daily tasks through this modality," they explain to iProUP from the entity, which implemented private virtual networks.
To this end, they indicate, "a corporate site was launched with access to all employees and updated information on the prevention measures and alerts issued by the public health system, as well as the tools that allow us to continue working remotely." Meanwhile, Santander Argentina has more than 3,600 employees working from home and offering their usual services, with the limitations imposed by quarantine.
"We have added 1,500 notebooks and expanded the number of VPN licenses, the secure communication channel between collaborators and central offices, providing them with all the tools so that they can carry out remote work without risking the security of the information and operations of our customers, "says Diego Salama, manager of Technology and Operations, to iProUP.
In the case of Grupo Sancor Seguros, Aixa Manelli, Technology Manager, told iProUP that the situation "involved a complete review of management, coordination and communication, not only within each team but between all areas and with the Advisory Producers , clients and, even, with those external groups with which we are related ".
"Regarding the control of entry and exit of users, we have three audit logs: one of connections through the different solutions available (VPN and remote desktops), another of logon events in the domain, and the third , to audit the main applications, "he adds.
Ana González, director of Project Management at the real state corporate firm CBRE, assures: "We have been preparing ourselves technologically for remote work for a long time, since our clients are mostly outside the country."
"We have projects in the construction phase whose provision of services has been inevitably interrupted by quarantine. But those in the design or planning phase can manage them via weekly virtual meetings. With the Zoom platform we share the screen and meet the entire team with excellent results" , he assures.
María Pía Saraceni, Human Resources Director of Pfizer Argentina, shares with iProUP that "the possibility of remote work was already an option for our colleagues, and it was a measure that we encouraged in advance for all collaborators with administrative functions."
Sebastian Vignals, Director of Human Resources at Johnson & Johnson Latinamerica Sur, comments that teleworking is applied "both for administrative positions and for the field force, which today migrated to 100% virtual platforms through iCall."
"We currently use Skype, Teams, and introduce Zoom licenses and other collaboration tools. To continue to fulfill our commitment to medical professional education, we have much more specific webinar platforms," ââhe explains.
In technology, teleworking is already seen as a benefit for employees, so adaptation was made easier. "We already did home office at least once a week and we have tools in the cloud to do it. But going to work full time from home and not going to the office at all meant a major paradigm shift," says iProUP Rubén Belluomo, commercial manager of Infor Cono Sur.
According to the executive, each sector has a different monitoring, namely:
- "Sales uses a CRM system (customer relationship manager) in which all interactions are captured to know exactly what happens to each one"
- "Marketing does its planning in a tool and the generated leads are in the CRM that Sales uses"
- "Administration and finance uses cloud programs in which all operations are loaded"
- "Technical support has its own platform where incidents, evolution and their solution are uploaded. All processes and activity evolution are recorded in the cloud"
Juan Martín del Campo, regional director of Latin America for Palermitano Solutions, confides to iProUP that they use "a management software called D-Tools, which allows monitoring activity in each of the projects. In addition, we have internal tools that keep track of the hours dedicated to each project and the tasks and priorities of each team member. "
Beyond that the home office is not a "new" tool for the sector, Francisco Ronconi, HR Director of Intive, states: "One of the main obstacles turned out to be that we had never had the experience of working with the team fully distributed and this requires more effort in coordination. "