Techies to work from offices only next year

Hyderabad: Based on an information technology associate’s work profile, there is a possibility that he or she may work from office 100 per cent only in 2022, that too in a phased manner; observed members of Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association (HySEA).

They had met here on Tuesday in connection with a meeting of Hyderabad Infrastructure Forum on October 22, which will dwell on smart infrastructure, mobility and changing work environment due to Coronavirus pandemic.
Many employees have concerns of safety, which means office infrastructure will need to incorporate changes in seating arrangements, no-touch infrastructure, installation of hepa filters and other safety methods.

Currently, small IT companies have up to 70 per cent of their employees working from office. But this percentage in large and mid size companies is less than 50 per cent, with 40 per cent of them even leaving the city and working from different locations in the country.

HySEA Infra Forum leader Ramesh Kaza says, "We are working out a policy across all companies, where employees return to office based on their role of work. Based on that, it will be decided whether they come to office on rotational basis – once in two or three days in a week. Work from home will continue, but only based on profile of the associate’s work."

Wells Fargo India and Philippines managing director Arindam Banerrji says, "Offices are core places to work seamlessly. We want employees to come back to safe workplaces, where they can engage in innovation without worry. There are different strategies being worked out. Infrastructure will play a critical role not only in our growth, but also in retaining our talent."

In the last one year of pandemic, the attrition rate in India within IT sector has gone up from 11 per cent to 20 per cent among those with three to seven years of experience. This is causing worry within top management, as new employees require guidance and experience from seniors, which is missing in work-from-home mode.

Bharani Aroll, HySEA president and Infopeers chief executive officer, said that infrastructure in Hyderabad’s IT corridor was of international standards. “We are looking at green and clean energy, last-mile connectivity and safety of employees as part of the work culture in post-pandemic work."

Principal secretary (IT, electronics and communication) Jayesh Ranjan, who participated in Tuesday’s event, asserted that infrastructure is enabling and cost effective. He said, "Our infrastructure development has not stopped at Outer Ring Road (ORR). There are several new initiatives in the offing, like the Regional Ring Road (RRR), Metro Rail Phase 2 till Shamshabad airport, and developing east, south and north of Hyderabad on par with western part (where IT sector is currently concentrated). We are looking at public private partnership programmes in infrastructure development," he disclosed.