Work From Home (WFH) may end soon in Hyderabad’s IT corridor?

After almost 18 months of providing work from home (WFH) and remote work options, IT companies in Hyderabad are keen to call back employees post Diwali. While large enterprises have already started calling back their employees in leadership positions, a few mid-size and small IT companies are looking to start offices in a full-fledged manner.

Another major boost to this shift is being attributed to the widespread vaccination drives held in most of the IT companies. And this has led to about 60 per cent of the IT employees in the city being fully vaccinated.

“Everybody is looking to start their office in a full-fledged manner as most of the mid-size and small companies have suffered due to WFH. It has led to an increase in the rate of attrition with many employees moving to large companies that have declared WFH till June next year,” says Ravi Korukonda, co-founder, PurpleTalk.

While there has been no official communication from some of the companies, employees point out that there is a hint at starting offices with at least 50 per cent capacity post Diwali. Some companies have even asked their employees to start booking seats and attend office at least 2-3 times per



week.

“No company has mandated their employees to come back to office, but yes they have been hinting at starting the offices post Diwali. However, it would not be in a full capacity manner but most will follow a hybrid model which is what large companies like TCS, Microsoft and ServiceNow are talking about,” says Praveen Chandrahas, General Secretary, Forum for IT Professionals.

He also adds that many employees are skeptical about going back to the office amid apphreensions on safety protocols being followed. He informs that companies must look at safeguards like a nicely ventilated workspace and medical facility on-call among other things.

Experts also point out that the major push for employees to return to the office will also depend on when schools start to function in a full-fledged manner, mostly after Diwali. “All dynamics will change once kids go back to school and that will be the major deciding factor for many to return to workspaces,” Korukonda says.

Chandrahas adds that many employees have gone back to their native town and if a company is keen to call them back to the office then salary hikes must also be considered.