Back to office: Employees feel safe to work from office now, survey suggests

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A large majority of Indians feel it is safe now to work in their offices, according to a survey by Deloitte. “An overwhelming majority of Indians (84%) feel it is safe to return to their workplaces,” the Business Standard reported quoting the survey. The findings of the Deloitte survey are in sync with that of a study by CBRE published in July that said only 6% of companies surveyed encouraged work from home culture.

The latest Deloitte study comes amid a steady fall in Covid-19 spread and accelerated pace of vaccination across the country. The finding is also in sharp contrast with earlier reports of employees saying they are willing to quit their jobs if asked to return to the office.

With Covid restrictions easing and public transport resuming operations, many companies are looking at facilitating return to the office. Software exporters, who were familiar with WFH even before Covid-19, are taking the lead in this. Earlier this month, it was reported that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) would ask its 5-lakh strong workforce to resume work in the office by this year-end or early 2022.

According to a media report, many other top IT companies including Wipro and Infosys are in the process of calling employees back to the office in a phased manner.

Globally, companies are exploring different ways to lure employees to work in the office. For example, Goldman Sachs has offered employees free breakfast, lunch, and ice cream at offices in London, New York, and Hong Kong. Amazon has bought more than 100,000 cups of coffee from local vendors for its staff in Puget Sound and Arlington headquarters, the report by CNBC-TV18 said.

According to a report in the Business Standard, Facebook is looking at staggered opening up of its offices in India from October. “Starting October, we will allow 25% of employees to return to the Gurugram office,” a Facebook spokesperson said.

Uber India plans a hybrid work strategy from early next year. “We are asking those working in offices to spend at least 50% of their time there every month, said a spokesperson.

Samsung had said that 33% of staff will work in the office. Employees can come to the office only after undergoing an antigen test each time.

Google had introduced a work location tool in the US that allows employees working from home to determine its impact on their pay package. A Business Standard report said it could be replicated in India

Amazon India had said employees at supply chain and warehouses are already back.

HCL Technologies spokesperson had said, “While we want to encourage our employees to return to the office, we do not want to mandate anything now.”

In JSW Steel has asked its fully vaccinated employees to return to the office in Mumbai.

A large number of employees at Skoda Auto Volkswagen are back at work in the office.

In the Birla headquarters in Mumbai, the top management is already attending office, says a media report.

Fully vaccinated employees at ITC are attending the office too.