After TCS, many IT Companies opting for work from office

Bengaluru: After market leader Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), many other IT companies-both large and mid-tier- have also started asking their employees to come back to offices by the end of this year.

According to sources in the know, companies like Cognizant, Wipro, L&T Technology Services, Tech Mahindra and many others have started sending communications to their employees discussing the need for work from office (WFO).

"We have seen companies communicating with their employees about the need for work from offices. Many of them have also sent surveys to understand the mood of employees," said a HR leader working closely with several IT companies in India. However, officials also added that there is a bit of reluctance among employees to resume offices, especially among those who are operating from home towns located in tier-II & III cities.

This week, TCS has asked employees to return to its offices across the country by the end of this year, officially ending the nearly two-year work-from-home (WFH) policy that companies have swiftly adopted in the wake up the pandemic. Earlier, TCS had asked its workers to get back to their deputed location (their base branch) by November 15.

"At present, we have about five per cent of our associates working from offices. Towards the end of CY21 (calendar year 2021), we will encourage our associates to return to offices, at least initially, before we switch to the 25/25 model," the company has said. TCS aims to have only 25 per cent of its employees working from offices at any point of time by 2025.

HR professionals said though companies are being asked to report to their base offices, it will be a hybrid operating model initially. A recent Nasscom study has said that more than half of the employees working in the Indian IT industry is likely to return to offices three times a week from January 2022.

"Both employees and employers are equally interested in making a comeback to the workplace in a hybrid setup, whereas 50 per cent of the workforce is likely to return to offices for up to three days a week starting next year. Primarily the junior and senior management i.e., workforce under the age of 25 & above 40 years are eager to return to the workplace as compared to the middle management," the Nasscom report has said.

In the post-pandemic era, companies are preferring to adopt hybrid work model with more than 70 per cent of organizations surveyed keen to operate under this new model, the report has added.