KOCHI: Several major IT firms are planning to reopen offices and are likely to adopt the mixed model. Survey among 4,000 employees at three IT parks reveals 50% believe hybrid work will help them maintain work-life balance
More employees are all set to return to offices instead of working from their homes. Some of the country’s largest IT companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, Infosys and UST are chalking out plans to open offices with the vaccination drive gaining momentum and Covid cases declining. The companies, however, plan to follow a hybrid model, where some employees will be allowed to work from the office and the rest from their homes alternately.
According to senior company executives of major IT firms, reopening offices will depend on various factors such as the vaccination status of employees, criticality of the work and location. While a few weeks ago, Wipro chairman Rishad Premji tweeted that their top leaders will start coming to the office after 18 months of remote work and will be working twice a week out of offices, some other companies like UST are planning to bring back the employees only when it is absolutely safe for everyone in a post-Covid or Covid-safe world.
But, they also believe that it is going to be a hybrid work model in the future for UST employees. Manu Gopinath, chief operating officer of UST, said remote work or a combination of work from office and home is in for the long haul. “We have seen real and tangible benefits for both the organisation and our associates with this hybrid approach. Increased productivity, work-life balance, opportunity to engage a diverse, global and “borderless” workforce are some of the more obvious ones,” he said.
“Family bonding, health, well-being and increased autonomy are significant but unseen benefits and will be crucial as we move towards finding new ecosystems to create value.”With a global talent pool and diverse workforce, cross-cultural training will become imperative. “They will elevate the ability of teams to understand one another better, exponentially improving team performance,” he said.
Like UST, TCS and Wipro, other major IT firms such as Infosys and industry organisations like Nasscom are planning to bring their employees back to offices after ensuring they have completed both doses of vaccine.
OUTCOME OF THE SURVEY
As many as 4,000 respondents from 335 major IT firms at Technopark, Infopark and Cyberpark were part of the survey. Responses were categorised into three parts -- hybrid work model, work from the office and work from home. About 50% of the respondents believed that hybrid work is essential for maintaining a work-life balance. While 38% of females like to continue working from home, only 35% of male professionals think so.