Amid a minor rise in the number of Covid-19 cases reported from small pockets across different states in the country, as many as 50% of the Indian workforce is likely to return to physical offices from January 2022, according to a Nasscom report.
According to the report, the workforce aged 25 years are most likely to return to the workplace by this month, “followed by employees aged 40 and above in the following months,” the IT industry's apex body in a report with job portal Indeed stated.
Also, nearly 70% of organisations in India are exploring hybrid operating models, as IT services and global capability centres (GCCs) are likely to be early adopters of a long-term hybrid work model.
“The industry is now prepared to gradually reopen and is looking at perfecting a hybrid operating model which brings in the best of both onsite and remote operating models,” said Debjani Ghosh, President, Nasscom.
“We encourage tech companies to process the reopening in a phased and safe manner while keeping the employee's health and safety as the topmost priority,” Ghosh said.
The further female workforce in the tech industry in India is equally interested in returning to the workplace and adapting to newer working models. While 28% of employees are interested in returning to the workplace in a month, 24% of the workforce would prefer to return to the workplace after 6 months.
Nearly 57% of organisations will reach readiness to re-open office spaces within 3 months and 72% of organisations are looking at up to 50% of their workforce returning to office in 2022, the findings showed.
According to the report, both employees and employers are equally interested in making a comeback to the workplace in a hybrid setup. The report also states that female employees are also excited about returning to offices and adapting to newer working models.
“Since the pandemic hit businesses across the globe, pushing employees indoors, many believed that the future of work was ‘remote‘. However, organisations and employees gradually realised that remote work is an outcome of the pandemic and not an evolved approach to workplace planning,” Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales, India, Indeed.com said.
