Rise in vaccinations increases employees returning to office

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Amid increasing vaccination coverage and easing of Covid-19 curbs, India Inc is seeing a surge of employees returning to their work place at a steady pace, The Economic Times, reported on Friday. With strict Covid protocols in place, companies like Infosys, KPMG, ITC, Vedanta Group, Motilal Oswal and upGrad are either opening up offices or gradually allowing more employees to return to office. Companies are making sure that employees returning to office are vaccinated, with some insisting on double jabs.

Companies to follow a hybrid work model

As of September 1, KPMG has reopened all of its offices in India, barring Kochi, and it expects 25% of its workforce to be back in office this month. The company is following strict norms and employees coming back, need to pre book their seats. It has separate isolation rooms, campus ambulances and has also stationed dedicated cabs for medical emergencies.

Due to the improvement in the pandemic situation in some of the countries, Infosys has opened some of its offices, though 98% of its employees continue to work from home globally. The company foresees about 20-30% of its employees working from office in the next six months, provided that the subsequent Covid-19 wave’s impact is minimal.

Those who have been vaccinated with both doses are coming to office more frequently than others at ITC. They also carry out random testing in some locations, as an added measure to ensure pre-emptive actions.

Similarly, upGrad and Vedanta has 35-50% of its employees returning to corporate offices in mid-August, as compared to 25-30% in July.

Motilal Oswal Financial services is on track to wrap up double vaccination by the end of September for its employees. It expects employees to be back by then.

Most companies are following a phased transition back to office, with hybrid work model being the norm. Organisations are continuing to monitor the situation, having weathered two pandemic waves. They are also in a far better position to move seamlessly back to a completely remote working model, should a big third wave hit, the publication said.