I have a friend who in the "before times" was the office manager in a small office of about 15 people. She was responsible for things like ordering business cards, stationary and teabags, greeting guests and showing them into conference rooms, sorting out external catering when there was a client lunch, stuff like that. She also deals with all the unsolicited email coming into the company's generic email address and telephone calls to the main number, and some other office admin like maintaining the holiday calendar and diary management for the team (finding slots for zoom calls with multiple people etc). She was always busy in the day and likes the people and her boss.
Now in lockdown, the office has been closed since March. The PA work has continued but there is no likely return to the office on the horizon so she is bored and asked me for ideas of a training course she could pitch to her boss. I don't know her role that well, I know it's a financial services company so I suggested maybe something along the lines of either IT, or occupational health.
Reading between the lines she is worried that unless she proves her worth, she will be let go because 50% of her job is currently non-existent and no likelihood of returning to the office anytime soon (with a real chance apparently of the team working remotely forever and giving up their office).
Does anyone have any better ideas of something she could do to upskill herself in this quiet period that would help, especially working with a permanently remote team? Is occupational health a dumb suggestion in a remote working world? (she seemed kind of lukewarm.)