Inside the Rise of a Hot New Industry: Social Distancing Consultants

It is an unusual, once-in-a-lifetime, super-charging event for companies such as Clear and its surveillance rivals, rebranding themselves while becoming an answer for companies, offices, and agencies everywhere contemplating how to safely reopen.

Will coronavirus catalyze a period of “de-urbanization” whereby social distancing becomes the cultural and social norm going forward? What does this mean for society and the real estate infrastructure that exists today?

Just like New York City subway in early May was used only by those without any other option, services like a pedicure, a haircut, a fitness class, or clothes fitting delivered in public spaces will be for those without the private alternative.

There’s a genuine reorientation in the nation’s labor philosophy, and it seems to grow more fervent with each passing day. “As a result of the pandemic, most people realized that a seemingly safe job or industry can change overnight, and we really can’t predict those circumstances,” says Dorie Clark, a professor at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business a... See more

Doing something, anything that might potentially prevent or diagnose the disease is very alluring, especially for businesses that have been crushed by the contagion or by reopening restrictions.

Organizations often don’t have the time nor resources dedicated to these types of analyses and forecasts, or don't have their antennae tuned precisely to separate signal from noise. Clients are also biased. They work with their own truths. Cultural strategists and semioticians provide both external insight and foresight.