96% of Indian firms have asked employees for full or partial return to office: study

The study highlights that workspaces are not ready for this new way of working

Around 96 percent of companies in India have mandated a full or partial return to the office with productivity, team communication and leadership pressure as key drivers, according to a Cisco study.

Contrary to the popular belief that most workers are reluctant to go back to the office, seven out of 10 (76 percent) employees in India responded positively to their organisation's mandate to return to the office and 82 percent of employee respondents expressed a desire to return to the office at least a few times per week, said the study titled ‘From Mandate to Magnet: The Race to Reimagine Workplaces and Workspaces for a Hybrid Future’.

Despite the positive reception to the office return, employees’ motives for in-office work have significantly evolved. The main reason for their return is not individual work, but rather to collaborate (80 percent), ideate and brainstorm with colleagues (53 percent) and foster a sense of belonging (58 percent). This shift signifies a change in employee expectations and needs for their workspaces.

Workspaces do not reflect changing employee needs

The study highlights that workspaces are not ready for this new way of working. Across India, when referring to office layouts and seating arrangements, 64 percent of employees feel these are not conducive to collaboration and brainstorming purposes. While there is a growing emphasis on collaboration, 85 percent of employers surveyed still allocate at least half of their offices to individual workspaces.

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Employees feel that individual workstations (40 percent), large (48 percent) and small (58 percent) meeting rooms are ineffective at boosting productivity in the office, or only do so moderately at best.

Technology infrastructure and integration is also an area of concern.

Among employers, who find meeting rooms ineffective in boosting in-office productivity, the main reasons are insufficient audio and video endpoints (48 percent) poor quality of audio-visual experience (59 percent), lack of inclusive audio and video endpoints (50 percent) and inconsistency in the experience for remote and in-office participants (57 percent). On average, just over half (54 percent) of the meeting rooms across organizations are equipped with video and audio capabilities.

On a positive note, the study reveals that organisations are making progress in transforming their office spaces. Eight out of 10 employers have already made changes post-pandemic and 90 percent plan to do so in the next two years. The main drivers of transformation include adapting to technological advancements (70 percent), meeting changing employee expectations for workspaces (67 percent) and better enabling hybrid work (50 percent).

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“Our study reveals that employees across the region have embraced hybrid work and are willing to return to the office more often, but with a caveat, workspaces must adapt to their evolving needs and expectations,” said Sandeep Mehra, Managing Director of Collaboration Sales, Cisco APJC.

The study is based on a double-blind survey of 9,200 full-time employees and 1,650 employers surveyed in November 2023. Respondents are from seven Asia Pacific markets including Australia, Hong Kong, India, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea.