COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in a new dawn; the work ecosystem will henceforth have a remote choice on its menu that workers will choose from.

On Thursday, Facebook announced that it’s going to let its workers choose whether to work remotely or work from the office. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, companies have recorded success in using the Work From Home (WFH) idea, and it appears it’s going to be the new normal.

What started like a joke from Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey in time, has turned to a big catch for companies and CEOs. Many could still hear Dorsey saying: “We want employees to be able to work where they feel comfortable.”

Since Dorsey started walking the talk, a host of companies including Google and Square have jumped the bandwagon, but Facebook came with a dang that may dampen the willingness of many workers to switch to working remotely. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is known for copying ideas from rival companies to get ahead in the game – that’s, when he fails to buy the company.

In this case, he seems to have found a better edge to save his company more money. In a statement, the Silicon Valley giant said that workers who choose to work from home would be paid according to the cost of living where they are working from.

“Those who move to lower cost cities may have their compensation adjusted based on their new locations… we’ll adjust salary to your location at that point. There’ll be severe ramifications for people who are not honest about this,” he said.

This is the game changer that has stirred curiosity. Is Zuckerberg operating in the guise of working remotely to achieve cheap labor?

Looking at the statement he issued on Thursday, the answer to this question appears inconsequential as he outlined the undeniable benefits of working from home, among them, reduced commuting. Environmentalists have been counting on something like that to reduce the impact of vehicle emission on the environment. More to that, Zuckerberg said the idea will make Facebook more diverse and help “spread economic opportunity much more widely around the country and world.”

Coronavirus which instigated unprecedented rise in the use of videoconferencing and spurred Zoom surge also inspired Facebook to expand its virtual apps. Zuckerberg said the WFH will help the company to accelerate the growth.

“Since so much of what we build is around helping feel connected and present with others no matter where they are – like our private messaging apps, video chat, Workplace, Portal, and eventually virtual and augmented reality – living our values will help us accelerate the development of these technologies,” he said.

In the past, Facebook has been staunch in the belief that working from the office is essential. The recent turn of events seems to have changed that, and the company is seeing an opportunity to save some cash and promote its services.

While Facebook’s decision to pay salaries appears deterrent to developing the remote work idea, workers (not only Facebook) wouldn’t mind a pay cut to work from home.

A poll conducted by analyst Jeremiah Owyang on Twitter found that 44% of workers are willing to take a 10% pay cut to work from home indefinitely. Though 56% said they wouldn’t, the 6% difference signals a new wave of working practice that is about to take over the labor market.

It is not clear if the larger or smaller number of Facebook employees is going to accept to work remotely knowing that their wages will be adjusted according to their places of residence, what is clear is that people are willing more than ever before to work remotely. In the coming weeks and months, as COVID-19 forces people who are opportune to keep their job to work from home, they will gradually adjust.

Zuckerberg said he is expecting 50% of Facebook employees to work from home over the next 5-10 years, and believes it will be the same with other organizations too. However, the challenge lies in making WFH a normal. Facebook said it’s leading the campaign even though there are lots of unanswered questions.

“Facebook will be the most forward-learning company on remote work at our scale, and we’ve been working on a thoughtful and responsible plan to this.”

With 40% of the company’s workforce willing to give the remote work a try, it will be another cost-saving strategy won by Mark Zuckerberg.

In a scintillating announcement on Saturday, the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the Spanish la liga has the “all-clear” to resume games in the second week of June.

“The resumption of major professional sporting competitions and, in particular, La Liga will be allowed from the week of June, 8,” Sanchez announced in a televised address.

The announcement brings to an end, speculations, anxieties and the boredom that have emanated from the suspension of the league back in March.

The future of the remaining parts of the leagues across Europe has been a subject of interest since the COVID-19 pandemic brought sports activities to a halt in the continent. The league bodies have sought ways to keep the games on or bring them back as soon as possible to save clubs from severe economic downturns.

FC Barcelona is among the Spanish clubs severely hit by the global health crisis. Having a financial responsibility of 500 million euros wage bill per annum (the highest in Europe), the Catalan giants have been desperately looking for fund to upset the bill of players’ salaries before the end of June.

In March, the players had voluntarily agreed to wage cuts so that other staff of the club could be paid. Lionel Messi and other team members took 70% pay cut to stem the financial burden on the club.

With the La Liga ready to resume next month, there is hope that Barcelona and others could live up to its financial obligations, though there are still challenges.

La Liga president Javier Tebas didn’t hide his excitement that the restriction has been lifted, but he said there is need for continuous vigilance.

“We are very happy for the decision, it is the result of the great work of clubs, players, technicians… CSD (National Sports Council) and agents involved,” he wrote on Twitter. “But we cannot lower our guard, it is important to follow health regulations and ensure the pandemic doesn’t come back.”

Barcelona has a slight 2-point lead over Real Madrid to stay at the top of the table. With 11 rounds of the fixtures remaining, the league is still open, making its completion compulsory.

However, the reopening of the stadium has come with a price. The remaining games are going to be played behind closed doors under strict precautionary conditions. The players will undergo tests for coronavirus the day before games and will have their temperature checked before they’re allowed to go into the stadium. Only 197 persons including coaching staff and match crew are allowed in the stadium.

German Bundesliga has last week resumed the league games, being the first among Europe’s top-five leagues to play matches. The Italian Serie A and the English Premier League are still working to resume on later dates.

Spain is one of the most hit countries by the coronavirus pandemic with more than 28,000 deaths from over 234,000 cases, which crippled sports activities that is a major part of the country’s economy. Tebas said the cancellation of matches would have cost Spanish clubs about a billion dollars in revenues.

The second-flight Segunda Division is also set to resume games with the Primera liga. The Spanish football federation is hoping to end all domestic games in July to give room for European competitions. So the clubs will play through midweek and weekends to finish the remaining games.

La Liga players had earlier last week resumed training, signaling readiness to resume matches.

However, against the excitement of resumption lies the realities of financial loss that will come from empty stadia. Every one of the teams is going through financial difficulties that need parked stadia to stem. With the indoor rule, fans will be watching from home and that means ticket sales will remain on hold until further notice.

But the league body appears not to be so concerned about that. Safety has been the focal point of the agreement between the health authorities and Spanish Football Federation. The numbers of players to grace the pitch for training has been cautiously reduced to 10, in order to observe the social distancing rules.

Tebas believes that the arrangement will not pose any danger to the matches since necessary safety measures have been put in place.

“That’s what I hope. We shouldn’t have any problems playing on Mondays across the eleven rounds of matches left to play. I hope for some sense from the Spanish Football Federation on this, because it’s very important for us to be able to give both our national and international broadcasters and fans across the world, football on as many days as possible to ensure as little disruption as possible,” he said.