Post Coronavirus Crisis Legal Consultant for High-Tech Companies:

Is It Really Unchanged?

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The coronavirus has created and continues to create a new reality.

It’s obvious to everyone that life after the coronavirus isn’t going to be the same as before.

Most employees around the world are now working from home, and many ideas are being discussed. Managements of high-tech companies to which my firm provides services are starting to realize that changes need to be made in how people work.

The primary change expected is that employees will no longer need to come to the office on a daily basis, and that it may be possible to work from home as efficiently, and perhaps even less expensively, than as was done from the office.

This conclusion has obviously many consequences on different areas and needs of the organization.

One question raised is whether it is really necessary to continue leasing big offices spaces on a regular basis, or is it possible to move to smaller offices spaces that will be used for only some of the company’s employees at any one time and not all of them.

Is there a need for a large quantity of parking spaces? And what will happen with the leased cars and public transportation if many employees continue working from home?

In addition, it’s very likely that the transition to work from home on a permanent basis can also have an impact on the supporting environment of the company, such as reduction in demand for restaurants around the office, reduction in demand for laundering services, reduction in demand for gyms that are located near the office, and reduction in the need for transportation services.

Recently, voices in the start-up ecosystems are beginning to talk about expected salary pay cuts of

20-40%, dismissal of employees and freezing of private investments.

These moves could also lead to mergers between different start-up companies.

All these suggest changes in the future of the labor market of the high-tech industry, as it adapts and continues adapting to the new reality for a very long time.

The high-tech industry is perceived as the power engine of the Israeli economy, leading and applying innovation that subsequently affects and appears in other industries of the economy.

Another possible change is shifting from in-house employees to outsourced service providers, especially in positions that support the activity of the organization and that are not necessarily the core of its main activity, like development employees.

Consequently, among the jobs that may be outsourced in the future are bookkeeping and payroll, secretarial and administrative services, HR services and Help Desk services.

The advantages of the outsourcing model are clear and distinct, and are especially suitable in a time of uncertainty and adjustment to a new reality as described here.

The vast flexibility that outsourced jobs gives the organization and the big cost savings for the organization are highly advantageous to the organization and do not undermine the quality or efficiency of the work, or reduce the level of productivity the organization previously enjoyed from

in-house employees.

Another job that may be transformed from in-house to outsourced is the in-house legal consultant of the company.

The in-house legal consultant of the company is entrusted with the management and guidance of the regular legal work of the company, such as different agreements of the company with its clients, partners and vendors.

Shifting in-house legal consultation to outsourced services is actually an innovative and unique solution that allows an organization to receive legal consultation on a regular basis that is of the same content and quality of in-house legal consultant services, but using the flexible model of outsourcing. The company can continue to benefit from the advantages of an in-house legal consultant, who is deeply familiar with the company, works with it closely and offers legal services that are consistent with the DNA of the company.

And while the company benefits from these advantages, it can also benefit from considerable cost savings in areas which aren’t the core of the organization’s business of the organization, and from reducing the need to recruit employees for such jobs.

Can this model of outsourced in-house legal consultation really work?

Based on the experience of recent years during which my staff and I have successfully worked with high-tech companies in precisely this way, there is little doubt that this is the most suitable legal solution for high-tech companies as they look beyond the day after the coronavirus crisis.

The solution enables organizations to continuing enjoying the same outputs and products as before, and saves them considerable costs.