From vaccination to COVID-care centres, IT firms step up employee support amidst deadly second wave

During the earnings call on April 23, VV Apparao, Chief Human Resources Officer, HCL Tech, said, “Considering that in this second wave cases are much more than it was in first, many people are struggling for oxygen support or bed facilities in various hospitals. Currently it is very serious in the National Capital Region (NCR) and experts are predicting that the other states will face similar severity.”

India recorded 3.52 lakh news cases and 2,812 deaths on April 25 with the healthcare system crumbling in many states.

“We are setting up 30 bed quarantine centres with oxygen support and ambulances with ventilator support in the NCR,” he said.

Earlier, the company as a part of CSR activity had donated ventilators to a few governments. “In turn we have agreements to provide ventilators to our people. So we are also scaling up, creating beds for our employees and families and ensuring that they get the right medication and oxygen supply,” he added.

In addition, the company is also expanding its COVID-19 helpline it was running with 15 doctors in 2020 to 25. “In the next week to 10 days’ time, we are further increasing it. We will be running with almost 55 doctors,” Apparao pointed out. It has also provided testing free of cost to employees.

According to him, this will provide huge help to their employees and families, who are affected. “We want to keep our employees safe and we don’t want anyone to suffer for the want of money. So we have not rejected any request from them,” he added.

Its Bengaluru-based peer, Infosys, too has set up employee COVID-19 care centres to support staff and their families who have contracted the virus and are in need of special medical care beyond home quarantine.

In a statement to Moneycontrol, the company said, “These centres would be managed by Ruby Hall hospital for Pune, and Manipal Hospitals for Bengaluru. Infosys is also in the process of setting up similar care centres across its major offices in India.”

In addition, Infosys has tied-up with COVID testing labs across the country. The company said that it has collaborated with emergency ambulance providers in every major city, and partnered with 1,490 hospitals in 242 cities in India, to enable treatment for its employees and their family members.

“COVID-19 related medical treatments are covered under group employee insurance, at Infosys. Employees who have contracted or recovering from COVID are given 21 days of additional paid leave by the company, and frequent safety checks are conducted while extending all support measures,” the company said.

CP Gurnani, CEO & Managing Director, Tech Mahindra, during an earnings call on April 27 said, “Earlier we said work from anywhere, now we are saying COVID-19 care from our facilities. So we are working with existing hospitals to convert some of our facilities into extended medical care facilities.”

Vivek Agarwal, President – BFSI, HLS and Corporate Development, explained: “Right now for the COVID care set up, we are thinking about 45-50 beds in our office premises, starting with Noida. We have tied up with large hospitals that will bring in the expertise and we will provide space and physical infrastructure. Our intention is to roll out at other large locations across the country to provide care to employees, families and larger societies.”

Vaccination camps

Earlier, IT majors announced that they would be covering vaccination costs for employees and their families. The inoculation camps will be organised in their campuses in partnership with hospitals.

So far companies like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Tech, Accenture, Capgemini, Tech Mahindra and tech major SAP Labs have announced they will be vaccinating all their employees and their families.