Hypothetically, yes, but during covid was when a company had to truly learn the work-at-home model. Some succeeded, some failed, but the reality is it was an excuse not to try. Automated is cheaper, and laying off employees because a pandemic has closed doors is a great excuse.

“I’m sorry, due to an abundance of caution we are unwilling to reopen the offices and do not have the infrastructure to have you work securely from home, so we’re going to have to furlough everyone until further notice”

Then they have a month testing the automated system and hit “good enough” by their standards so then they say the furlough becomes a layoff and everyone loses.