Over 50% may return to offices thrice a week by January 2022

A graphic representation of an employee working from home. (PC-Shutterstock)

Close to 50 percent of the workforce will likely return to offices for three day a week starting January 2022, as both employers and employees are interested in coming back to the workplace in a hybrid setup, according to a NASSCOM-Indeed report.

This sentiment reflects how the companies are looking at hybrid work. Large IT services companies such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL Tech have already started their senior management to return to offices, and is encouraging others to return to offices. Currently, returning to office is voluntary for all employees.

The report, NASSCOM Return to Workplace Survey, launched by the IT industry body NASSCOM and Indeed, a job listing site, revealed, “Primarily the junior and senior management, which is workforce under the age of 25 and above 40 years are eager to return to the workplace as compared to the middle management.”

While employees below 25 years are likely to return to work by November 2021, followed by those over 40 years. Female employees are also excited about returning to offices and adapting to newer working models, the report said.

Over 81 percent of organizations expressed that employee health and safety remains the key consideration for them while reopening the offices. In addition, close to 72 percent of organizations are looking at operating at a maximum of 50 percent employee capacity starting next year.

Hybrid work model is the preferred choice by over 70 percent of organizations as per the report data findings with IT services and GCCs likely to be early adopters of a long-term hybrid work mode, the report said.

The report is based on the return to workplace surveys conducted by NASSCOM focused on both tech employees and tech employers on their plans on return to offices. The report aims at understanding the expectations, key considerations, and preparedness on both fronts (employers & employees) for return to the workplace and further analyzes different future operating models emerging in a hybrid setup.

Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM, said, “Over the last one and a half years, the way tech organizations have run business operations has undergone a massive transformation. The industry is now prepared to gradually re-open and is looking at perfecting a hybrid operating model which brings in the best of both onsite and remote operating models.”

Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales, India - Indeed.com, said, "Since the pandemic hit businesses across the globe, pushing employees indoors, many believed that the future of work is ‘remote’. However, organisations and employees gradually realized that remote work is an outcome of the pandemic and not an evolved approach to workplace planning.” Kumar added that Indeed's last hiring tracker indicated that employees are looking for more ‘flexible’ workplaces that will enable work-home balance.