EC President Ursula von der Leyen speaking at the 2021 World Economic Forum in Davos, taking place online. (source: AP/TASR)
The pandemic has been horrible, but it was good for at least one thing. It exposed how unnecessary some in-person work meetings were. You probably felt it all along, but finally we had evidence that a good number of office gatherings, a hefty percentage of business travel and plenty of conferences proved to be colossal wastes of time and money.
For the second consecutive year, one of the most wasteful, the World Economic Forum (WEF) — that annual conference of global elite in Davos, Switzerland — has been postponed. Originally scheduled for next week, the gathering is still scheduled to take place in the summer, but until then billionaires, bankers and pseudo-celebrities will have to make do with an online replacement event.
Would-be attendees will miss out on champagne and caviar, while the rest of us won’t be able to joke about the irony of a bunch of people who travel by private jet warning the rest of about the dangers of climate change. The pandemic is demanding sacrifices from everyone.
