HOW WILL INFOSYS, TECH MAHINDRA AND OTHER IT COMPANIES RETURN TO OFFICE AFTER 'WORK FROM HOME'? REPORT

Indian IT services companies are heavily dependent on data to get through the post COVID-19 world. Since the sector is partially returning to offices nearly after three months of lockdown, companies like Infosys and Tech Mahindra are trying to analyze data related to employee metrics and client demands in order to decide who comes in and who continues to work from home.

“We are going to be very focused on data. It will tell us very clearly what the movement of people is,” Jagdish Mitra, chief strategy officer and head of growth at Tech Mahindra, told Quartz during a roundtable organized by IT industry body Nasscom.

Most of the companies are planning to bring around 15% of their staff to offices, which would include employees who are needed for essential roles as well as others who are facing difficulty working remotely. 

Here’s how some of the industry leaders are planning to bring back employees to office.

Jagdish Mitra, chief strategy officer and head of growth at Tech Mahindra:

“We’ve made a list of projects that we will start calling people out on. Project managers have made their teams and rosters and all the prep work is ready. But we’ll not call everyone on day one just because the government has allowed it. We will take a gradual approach.”

He mentioned that the company is planning to stay focused on data in order to track the movement of people. “Things like the Arogya Setu app, our own story of what the route is, [and] the transport mechanisms we’ve made available for people to make sure they’re safe and social distancing is available.”

“We, as leaders, have to make sure we’re coming to work, demonstrating that our work environment is safe and therefore allowing our associates to come. Some of us leaders are already going to work. I’ve been going for last three to four weeks to make sure we follow social norms. CP (Gurnani, CEO) has also been doing it, just to make sure the message goes out that it is safe to come to come in to work, if you’re needed,” he added.

While talking about dealing with Coronavirus, he said, “Coronavirus is not going away in a jiffy. From our side, we need to take the fear away and bring the caution in. If it is unprecedented fear, it’s going to impact us unnecessarily. But if it’s careless abandon, it’s going to impact us even worse.”

BVR Mohan Reddy, founder and executive chairman, Cyient:

“We’re using tremendous amount of data right now in terms of what’s the productivity level of people, and what are the outcomes. Based on the output and productivity levels, 2-3% of people been pulled in.”

“Where we’ve not seen the right type of output, we’re asking them to come to work. It has to be a planned approach, processes have been put in place but and you can’t put a timeline because there is uncertainty,” he added.

UB Pravin Rao, chief operating officer, Infosys, and chairman of Nasscom:

“We have carefully selected people from projects where clients were very reluctant about working from home. We are not in a hurry to get people back. And when people have come back, they’re sharing their experiences and it’s been positive. They talk about our safety measures.

While talking about future plan, he said, “We’ve used data, looked at clients who, once things become better, want people to work in office. And rather than doing it in one shot, we wanted to start bringing them in and acclimatize them over time.”