COVID-19 Impact On Mobility – Virtual Interview with Marie O’Neill and Aideen Hopkins

In times of such uncertainty and confusion, for individuals and organisations, it is so important for us all to play our part in helping to combat the impact of the outbreak in any way we can.  At EER we are committed to ensuring the safety of our employees and clients and assisting companies with the best way to navigate through the crisis.  As part of our on-going efforts, we are working with our partners around the world to share information and solutions as we prepare for operations both during and after covid-19.

This week our General Manager Marie O’Neill and Head of Business Operations Aideen Hopkins took time out to ‘virtually’ sit down with EuRA COO Dominic Tidey and discuss the situation in the UAE.  EuRA , the European Relocation Association, is a non-profit professional industry body for relocation providers and Dominic has been reaching out to their international network to get the inside scoop on the varying impacts around the world.

In the interview Marie and Aideen take him through the recent updates in the UAE, particularly the swift and comprehensive action taken to conduct city-wide sterilization, the introduction of evening curfews and the extension of e-learning until the end of the school year.  Having initiated a law on communicable diseases, the UAE now has a series of fines and potential jail penalties for damaging behaviour such as spreading false information and not quarantining when sick.  Whilst much of the country seems to be uniting to fight the effects of the virus together, these stiff measures should help restrict those who could be harmful.

While the spread of the coronavirus is a worry from a health perspective, it is also already starting to impact economies and incomes around the world.  Whole industries have been suspended and many are at risk of struggling to recover.  It is so vital that support is provided and that companies who aren’t affected negatively do their part to keep commerce moving to support the essential economic growth we will need to rebuild at every level.  The UAE Government has already announced one of the largest (by population) stimulus packages in the world and in the interview they detail the key elements that will impact organisations and individuals working here.

Finally Marie and Aideen share the specific impacts on the EER team including the evolutions made to our robust business continuity procedures, the steps taken to protect employees and how they are leading the charge to keep everyone positive (spoiler alert, there are quizzes involved!).

You can watch the full interview here via the EuRA You Tube channel:

We hope you are all staying safe and well during this difficult time and please don’t hesitate to reach out to the EER team if we can help in any way.

#stayhome #staysafe