Guwahati, Aug 30: While taking care of his ailing mother, Guwahati based Mustafa Zaman was conveniently handling his official work from the comfort of his home. Last year, he got himself an office chair and other necessary stuffs to make his work area more comfortable, including a broadband connection. Moreover, the internet bill is taken care of by his company.
"Since last two years, I have been working from home, I have become hooked on the work-from-home life and would like to continue," said Zaman who works in the IT department of a multinational company in New Delhi.
Everything was sorted and the new work environment gave him the freedom to customise his work environment as per his needs. While his company is also satisfied with his work, things took a turn when he was informed that the office would resume physically from October this year.
"Apart from minimising the daily commute in the jam-packed roads of Delhi, the new work culture gave me the opportunity to spend quality time with my family," added Zaman.
Due to study and work, Zaman has mostly remained outstation. However, the pandemic induced lockdown and the new work culture has given him the opportunity to spend a considerable amount of time with his family during the pandemic. Now that he got a call from his company, thoughts like opting for another job is coming to his mind.
Unlike Zaman, another youth from Guwahati, who works for a media outlet is of the view that working from office, is more feasible as compared to work from home (WFH) as his work hours transcends office hours often resulting in more work. Moreover, the nature of his job does not resonate with WFH option as he often has to be on the field.
The pandemic has opened the floodgate for the hybridisation of work culture. Now that the pandemic has slowed down and offices are resuming it is being known that WFH is a conscious choice rather than a necessity.
Real estate research agency CIRIL, highlighted that although several sectors have given a thumbs up to the new mode of working, there are several downsides including lack of organisational structure, team building activities, collaboration, interaction and motivation leading to employee burnout, loneliness and mental health issues.
Companies are exploring new models of collaborative working environment that strikes the right balance between working place and time apart from fostering a healthy interpersonal relationship between employee and employers.
Although the IT sector have been the first movers in experimenting with the new model, other sectors are gradually catching up with the post pandemic strategy.
Netherlands shows the way!
While WFH is here to stay, a tug of war has erupted between employers and employees on adopting the hybrid model and the Netherlands took a step ahead as it is planning to make WFH a legal right for the employees.
The Dutch parliament on July 12 approved a legislation to establish home working as a legal right, setting the Netherlands up to be one of the first countries to enshrine such flexibility in law. However, the European country still needs a green signal from the Dutch senate before its final adoption.
As per reports, the law forces employers to consider employee requests to WFH as long as their profession allows it.
Currently, the employers in the Netherlands can deny any request from employees regarding WFH option. However, once the new law is adopted, employers must consider all such requests and give adequate reasons for refusing them.
Lawmakers said that the new law would help employees to find a better work-life balance and reduce time spent on commuting.
This comes at a time when there has been a demand with many workers seeking to maintain some of the flexibility they have experienced over the last two years. But with companies seeking to respond to surging demand as the pandemic recedes, the topic has become increasingly polarising issue when CEOs of top-notch companies including Tesla's Elon Musk, JPMorgan's CEO Jamie Dimon, and Goldman Sachs' David Solomon have rubbished the new work model and expressed their intention to a fully in-person work model.
Where does India stand?
In India the new labour laws have been drafted to improve the well-being of employees. It recognises the work-from-home model which was implemented during the pandemic. As per the new laws companies are required to have some basic principles in place regarding WFH to ensure that the work-life balance is not affected.
Many employees say that WFH is better as this reduces the commutation time and helps to create a better work-life balance and saves money, while some employees say that work from the office is better as there would be face-to-face communication with other employees which will facilitate teamwork and integrity.
Several studies were done on this matter. The results show productivity while working from home is better than working at office.
In a survey conducted by CIEL HR (for a financial daily) some companies are even hiring employees promising permanent working from home roles. The survey also reveals that over 50 per cent of companies are allowing employees to choose the remote working option. Furthermore, the survey suggested that nearly 10% of new recruits are likely to get permanent remote roles.
The new labour laws are drafted keeping in view the well-being of the employees, henceforth, it will be crucial to observe how it will be implemented across the country with other major changes including working hours, annual leave, take-home salary etc., to all the industries and sectors in India. The laws which were supposed to go into effect on July 1, have been delayed as discussions and deliberations on final contours of the four codes- wages, social security, industrial relations, occupational safety, health and working conditions are still on.
In a written reply to Lok Sabha Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Rameshwar Teli stated that a few states are yet to frame the rules under all four labour codes and only 23 states and Union Territories (UTs) have published the draft rules under the Code on Wages. The codes will be implemented when all states are on board.
Meanwhile, in July, the Union Commerce ministry announced work from home for a maximum period of one year in a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) unit, which can be extended to 50 per cent of total employees. This comes under a new rule 43A for WFH in Special Economic Zones Rules, 2006. However, employees of the IT/ ITeS SEZ units, employees who are temporarily incapacitated, travelling, or working offsite are covered under this.
The notification also stated that SEZ units will provide equipment and secured connectivity for the purpose of WFH to perform authorised operations of the units and the permission to take out the equipment is co-terminus with the permission granted to an employee.
While experts believe that this step will increase productivity of the employees and cost savings of the company, but it may reverse the demand of transportation and other indirect facilities related to workplace.
Companies struggling to get employees back to office
Following the pandemic, employees have become adaptive to remote and hybrid operations to ensure work continuity. As economic activities are returning to normalcy, companies are facing a hard time in getting its workforce back to office.
Mumbai based startup, WhiteHat Jr's attempt to get back its employees to the office led to en masse resignation, as over 800 full-time employees voluntarily resigned from the company, after it has asked the employees to return to office.
As per a survey conducted by Nasscom and job portal Indeed, 66 per cent of the respondents had reported higher employee satisfaction working remotely.
Moreover, in line with 'The Great Resignation', a phenomenon used to describe the resignations that have plummeted due to the pandemic, about 86 per cent employees in India are planning to resign in the next few months, stated a report published by recruitment agency Michael Page, on July this year.
The CIEL HR found out that employees are ready to forego a higher paying job that required them to return back to office, irrespective of industries, sectors or seniority levels. Accordingly, companies are also proceeding cautiously as they are adopting flexibility in the work culture.
Bridging the gap
Amidst the work from home debate, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushed for the WFH ecosystem and flexible working hours so as to keep pace with the transformations happening in the workforce and the market around the world. He further underlined that this will encourage women's participation in the workforce.
The post-Covid world has drastically changed the workplace scenario. No one imagined WFH or 'work from anywhere' could be throwing a big challenge to company managements, compelling them to churn out ways and convince their employees to come back to office, after they became adapted to the new normal.
While employers are facing a tough time to fill their office, experts suggest that it's high time to create work policies and plans that allow for more flexibility and personalisation. A hybrid future combining both remote work and office time may well be an answer, but that needs to be planned carefully as an impromptu policy may just backfire.