Hyderabad: With third wave of Covid-19 subsiding and nearly 80 per cent of the population getting fully vaccinated, there is an intense speculation on whether Information Technology (IT) industry is ready to bring its employees back to offices. In this scenario, Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association (Hysea) took the industry opinion on Return to Office (RTO) plans through a detailed survey conducted during February. The survey revealed that majority companies wanted to bring back all employees to office, but would prefer a hybrid model of work.
Hysea President Bharani K Aroll said, "We have done so many RTO surveys during the Covid times. In this survey, most of the IT firms in the city are positive to encourage, motivate and direct their workforce to come back to the offices. Now, companies have taken a bold step to send e-mails to the staff asking them to RTO."
"About 65 per cent IT companies prefer to bring all their employees back to the office but in a hybrid model. Hybrid work model is here to stay based on the majority of the responses. If schools operate in full physical mode, then there is a possibility of more employees returning from their hometowns to Hyderabad and come back to offices," he added.
At present, nearly 40 per cent of the IT workforce is outside Hyderabad and offices continue to function at an average of only 10 per cent employees working from offices and rest from homes in Hyderabad or elsewhere. Schools have reopened but attendance continues to be thin. Demand for the industry continues to be high and attrition remains higher than normal.
According to the survey, 21 per cent IT firms in the city want only essential employees or other role-based hybrid model, while 15 per cent of the companies want all their employees back to work on the working days. A majority of the IT firms have either already written to their employees to RTO or planning to write soon.
A total of 68 companies participated in the survey with a healthy mix of SME, large and very large companies across IT services, products, Indian and MNC companies. This sample size represents nearly 30 per cent of the IT/ITeS industry in Hyderabad. Hence the survey results are statistically robust and representative of the industry view.
In a positive indicator for RTO, over 56 per cent IT offices are fully functional in the city and employees allowed to work from office. Only 28 per cent offices are open in a restricted way for critical resources. Global/national policy of the company drives the future work models for 54 per cent and, the decision is driven by local leadership and conditions for the other 46 per cent.
Almost 45 per cent respondents felt productivity issue was the main driver for RTO policy. A significant 33 per cent felt employee morale, lack of collaboration, bonding and other reasons as drivers to RTO. The much hyped 'moonlighting' or working on multiple jobs simultaneously was not observed as a major issue by an overwhelming majority of participating companies.
