Key roads still waterlogged, companies ask employees in Delhi-NCR to work from home

NEW DELHI: Many companies in the National Capital Region have asked employees to work from home amid massive traffic snarls due to waterlogging and flooding in and around Delhi.

Heavy downpours in Delhi and its neighbouring states, and record levels of water in the Yamuna, have pushed many localities into waist-deep water, throwing normal life out of gear over the past few days.

Ankit Agrawal, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of InsuranceDekho, which has implemented flexible working options for employees, said, "Understanding the challenges faced by our workforce, we have implemented work-from-home or flexible work options to ensure employees' convenience and uninterrupted productivity while keeping them safe."

Market watchers pointed out that while flexi work options were put in place at the onset of the pandemic, some tech companies continue to allow staff to operate in hybrid mode even now.

Rohit Kataria, chief sales and strategic officer (CSSO) of Echelon Edge Pvt Ltd, said, "Hybrid work model is successful, especially in places like Delhi-NCR where chaotic traffic is common. Amid an advisory due to rising water levels across the city, working from home is the best option for employees and employers alike."

Several business leaders expressed concerns over the infrastructure in the national capital. Work flexibility and remote working should not be mixed with poor infrastructure, the CEO of Gurugram-based field services management company FieldWeb, Amit Dhawan, said.

"Modern businesses believe in giving flexibility to their teams for encouraging an ownership mindset. Having said that, one should not conflate work flexibility and remote working scenarios with shoddy city/local administration and poorly managed infrastructure that compel individuals to work from home," he said.

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Sumit Sabharwal, CEO of TeamLease HRtech, said responsible organisations prioritise employee safety, hence facilitating work from home in extreme weather conditions is a wise decision.

"Temporarily transitioning to work from home shouldn't cause any dip in productivity if companies are already managing their HR, sales, marketing, and other operations through cloud-hosted, SaaS-based platforms," he said.

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Jayati Pardhy, head HR of payroll solutions platform Keka HR, agreed.

"The strength of a business lies in its ability to endure and its resilience to adapt and thrive amidst adversity. At Keka, we believe in the power of technology to safeguard and ensure continuity during such challenging times," she said.

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