If you had told me two months ago that COVID-19 would have this profound of an effect on my life, I would’ve laughed. At that point, I knew that the illness was spreading fast and was killing thousands of people, but I felt very detached from the situation. The epicenter was on the other side of the planet. Fast forward to today, and I have been forced to move back in with my family in Savannah, where I’ve been doing my schoolwork online. I didn’t sign up for this. Then again, none of us did. In times like these, complaining is that much more pointless, because we’re all going through it.
Compared to some other people, I have it pretty well. My mom owns a business with online operations, and my dad is an “essential” worker, so their income has not changed. I am now unemployed, but I applied for unemployment and am just saving it for when I move back to Atlanta in June. We are still having a hard time finding what we need at the store, and my dad is concerned about working in these conditions, but at least none of our bills will go unpaid. In addition to that, I have a place where I can stay. At least I’m not an international student who couldn’t return home.
As for how COVID-19 has affected my industry, very little has changed. Despite the pandemic, the capital markets must still be held accountable, and annual reports are still due. I’m very impressed with how the auditing industry is doing during this time. I’ve been in touch with members of my network who work at PwC, Deloitte, and EY, and they have all said that their jobs have transitioned very well to their new work-at-home settings. They are actually becoming concerned with whether or not coming to the office is a necessity! A managing director I know from Deloitte said that it will be interesting to see what will happen after all of this is over, because if anything, it has shown us that the industry can handle this kind of obstacle.
Aidan's Audit 