Arlington Andrews is the owner of Computer Planet on Route 315 near Wilkes-Barre. Lately, he finds himself working until midnight some nights.
"I've been in business 18 years now. This has honestly been the last year, the busiest year I've ever had. Everybody is on their computer now. Whether they're working from home, doing school from home. Everybody is fixing their old computer, or they're buying a new one," Andrews said.
It is a similar story on Drinker Street in Dunmore, but Technic IT Group is a different kind of computer repair business. John Martines' clients are strictly employers, so when those employers sent their employees home last year, things got busy at Technic, too.
"We had some customers that had 40, 50 computers that they took out of their location, and their employees took them home, so we needed to make sure we facilitated that in a secure manner," Martines explained.
Because most home networks are not as secure as corporate networks, Martines says the type of IT work he is focusing on is shifting.
"We're noticing a very large increase in phishing emails, attacks from other countries trying to get into the workplace, and now they're affecting the people working at home too."
Andrews agrees a lot of his clients are bringing in computers with viruses, too. But he is also seeing a lot of things like water damage and dropped laptops because of the work-from-home lifestyle.
"That's why I believe people like a small, local guy like myself rather than a big box store. I take the time. I go over everyone's computer when they come in. I tell them exactly what happened and what I think they can do to prevent it in the future," Andrews said.