IT sector's 'return to office' will be gradual

Hyderabad: Information technology companies' return to office in 2021 will be gradual with no perceptible change by the end of March.

Return to Office (RTO) will peak towards the end of 2021 and will never be 100 per cent, revealed a survey by Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association (HYSEA), the apex body of IT and ITeS companies in Hyderabad. About 60 per cent of the companies plan to have less than 20 per cent of their workforce operating from office by the end of March 2021. But, there will be a significant increase of 40 per cent in Work from Office (WFO) numbers by the end of June. Nearly 75 per cent of large and very large companies are planning only 0-9 per cent employees working from office by the end of March. By June 2021, WFO percentage is likely to touch 20 and in quite a few cases, WFO is expected to touch 30 per cent. By December 2021, the likely WFO percentage for large and very large companies is 50-70.

More than 55 per cent of the industry plans to increase WFO percentages to greater than 70 per cent by Dec 2021, with more than 39 per cent planning to increase to greater than 90 per cent WFO. No one responded saying 100 per cent WFO will return, said HYSEA, a registered apex body with more than 300 members representing the IT/ITES industry in Hyderabad. As many large companies have reported that a significant percentage of their employees are working from outside Hyderabad (native places), RTO will become that much more time-consuming and complex considering the reverse migration that needs to happen in large numbers, the survey report said.

More than 50 per cent of the companies have reported more than 25 per cent of their Hyderabad-based workforce operating from outside Hyderabad, while 25 per cent of the companies have more than 50 per cent of their workforce operating from outside the city. More than 50 per cent of large and very large companies have reported that 25 per cent or more of their employees are working from outside Hyderabad. In some cases, it is more than 50 per cent of employees. It is tough to predict when (and if) such a massive workforce will return to Hyderabad, said HYSEA.

Contrary to the analysts' predictions, almost no one among the large and very-large companies mentioned plans for any hub-spoke model in the medium-term.

Some very-large companies have said client imperatives will drive them to increase WFO in 2021. Most of the other companies said vaccine availability and increased confidence in managing incidents at the workplace will be the reasons. These are mainly Global In-house Centres (GICs).