As the World Health Organization (WHO) recently said the coronavirus pandemic is changing but it is not over and warned that the cases are rising in 110 nations, companies are being cautious in opening their offices and asking their employees to join physically. IT majors like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and HCL Tech have already announced their long-term plans on work from home. The companies will follow the hybrid model in the long term — mixture of both work from office and home.
“This pandemic is changing but it’s not over. Our ability to track the #COVID19 virus is under threat as reporting and genomic sequences are declining meaning it is becoming harder to track Omicron and analyse future emerging variants,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO, said recently.
Coronavirus cases in India witnessed a single-day jump of 20,528, and 49 fatalities pushed India’s COVID-19 tally to 4,37,50,599, while the death toll has increased to 5,25,709, according to the latest health ministry data. Active COVID-19 cases in the country have risen to 1,43,449 on Sunday, from 1,40,760.
Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 situation, companies are continuing with the work from home system. Recently, Paytm also allowed its employees of certain roles (product, tech and business roles) to continue with work from home. A US-based IT company Synopsys is also working remotely.
Apart from this, employees are also preferring work from home as it helps them better manage work-life balance and saves money as well. “I feel more comfortable and productive while working from home. It also saves time and money as working from home saving travelling time and the money on that,” said an IT professional, who din’t want to be named.
Various IT Companies’ Plans
TCS: The country’s largest IT services company has said that it plans to follow the hybrid model of work in the long term. Explaining its hybrid model of working, TCS has also explained 3Es (Enable, Embrace and Empower) in a letter to its employees recently. It also plans to set up occasional operating zones (OOZ) and hot desks as agile work seats worldwide, which allow its associates to work and engage with fellow team members from any TCS office.
The firm will also follow the 25×25 policy, under which it will require not more than 25 per cent of the company’s associates to work from an office at any given point in time, and they need not spend more than 25 per cent of their time in the office.
Infosys: The company also has a long-term plan for the hybrid model. Also, it’s been opening its offices in a phased manner. Currently, only 5 per cent senior executives are going to offices. The IT major has also announced its long-term plan for the hybrid model of work, depending upon the clients, regulatory environment and a number of other considerations. “This will be a phased approach and we are reviewing it every quarter.”
HCL Technologies: The IT company has already said that one of its top priorities is the safety and well-being of its employees and their families. The company remains committed to maintaining its business normalcy, thereby ensuring uninterrupted services to its clients, and said the company continues to operate in a hybrid model, it has said.
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