Holidays and New Year’s Eve are already here! It feels like just yesterday we were starting 2022 and now we are saying goodbye and preparing for 2023. Since the pandemic, life has been transformational. We are not who we were before 2020, and continue to adapt and create a new normal as a community. In 2022 we continue to see masks, virtual events, and mobile services be a regular part of life.
Flexible Work Environment
In 2022, we saw students and office workers return to office. One thing that has come from the post-pandemic world is more flexible work environments. Where many companies in the past would have never allowed work from home, now many companies have decided to offer hybrid work options or entirely remote. Having the ability to choose from working at an office every day, hybrid, or remote is part of the evolving transformation of Toronto and beyond.
Virtual Services
Pre-pandemic, we were starting to see virtual services become more common in some aspects, but it has since boomed. Now, we can receive virtual medical, psychological, beauty, wellness, fitness, and financial assistance on a regular basis.
Beauty and Wellness Services
Virtual professional care services are not limited to medical care these days. Now there exists the option to join wellness events and groups online that aren’t local to us but appeal to our needs. By receiving wellness services online, we save on traveling long distances by car or plane and lodging. Today corporations can also provide wellness programs virtually for their employees, as mental health has come to the forefront, and companies recognize the importance of mental health.
When it comes to the beauty industry, there has been so much growth, which includes the services that can be accessed virtually. Services like the one ScissorsCut provides are some of the kinds of benefits of the new hybrid world we live in. Being able to contact a licensed beauty professional who can provide you with services like hairstyling, haircuts, barbers, spa treatment, and more that will come to your house used to be unheard of. Today, freelancing and being your own boss have made way for in-home services like never before.
Other beauty services available virtually include makeup consultations by beauty consultants (also referred to as beauty advisors). Virtual beauty consultations typically encompass demonstrations of makeup techniques, suggestions for products based on the client’s needs, and going over each product (benefits, ingredients, application methods, and price ranges).
Medical and Mental Health Services
During the pandemic, we saw a rise in virtual care appointments for urgent care and primary care appointments and other specialties. In addition, with the need for isolation and a need to seek therapists, virtual therapy gained popularity. Today virtual mental health services can support mild to moderate mental and substance use disorders. Now we can choose between seeing our medical care providers in person, especially when necessary, or having consultations virtually when going in isn’t required or doable.
Virtual mental health support in most, if not all, cases offers video, secure messaging, and portals that are easy to access. With this service becoming more commonplace, access to mental health professionals has expanded, saving patients travel time and shorter wait times. In some ways, it has helped reduce the stigma concerning needing and receiving mental health services.
Virtual Events and Event Planning
In the last 2.5 years, virtual events have grown in popularity. A virtual event can be anything from webinars, conferences, virtual expo fairs, festivals, and live entertainment. Based on the
Global Virtual Events Market 2023-2027 report, the virtual events market is set to grow by $273.82 million between 2023-2027, advancing at a compound annual growth (CAGR) of 21.34% during the forecast period. A lot of the estimated growth comes from the field of education, followed by online conference calls and virtual recruitment events.
Not only are we attending more major virtual events, but it is likelier that we are planning some of our own, from baby showers to bridal showers to family reunions. For some is at’s easy as setting up a zoom call, but when we want to go big, we now have the option to work with virtual event planners. It is a service that has come in handy more and more in the new post-pandemic world we live in.
Fitness Services and Wearable Tech
Gyms and boutique studios were closed all over the country while Covid was running rampant before we could get some control over it with vaccines and masks, but that doesn’t mean we stopped wanting to be fit. Thankfully there was an increase in virtual workout services, from app subscriptions to online classes that we could do at home and virtual personal trainers to wearable tech.
According to Wellness Creative Co., millennials use fitness apps more than any other age group, primarily women, who use them twice as much as men. They go on to share that before the pandemic, the online fitness market was valued at $6bn. Now it is predicted to grow at 33.1% CAGR, meanings the fitness market may be worth $59bn by 2027. In 2022, online exercise classes ranked #9 as a fitness trend.
Financial Advise
Prior to 2020, tech in the finance industry was beginning to gain way. With closures and isolation, the importance of being able to talk to finance professionals without having to meet with them in their offices or branches became a bigger priority for the consumer and the banks. Virtual financial assistance has become key. Certified financial planners (CFP) and financial advisors are becoming more available to their clients through web calls and audio conferences (lessening the need for clients to travel to and from meetings).
The Hybrid New World of Choice
While the pandemic brought a lot of pain and ailment, it also gave us positive changes to the world we live in. It created new choices and ways of doing business. Now we can opt to go to see professionals who can help us look good and feel good, as well as stay financially healthy.