WFH or RTO? As COVID-19 cases rise and inflation bites, here’s what firms plan

When the first bout of COVID-19 cases emerged in India, life was in limbo for many. Firstly, there was the question of the disease – how severe it is and how long it is here for. Most did not think it was going to last for more than a month. But now, two years and three waves later, the same questions remain.

In fact, more challenges have now crept up in workplaces. While the disease has become somewhat predictable, the outcome has not. That had left employees like Bengaluru-based Priyanka Gogoi in a lurch. The Dibrugarh resident returned to her hometown just as flight operations resumed after a two-month suspension in 2020. Since then it has mostly been a ‘will they, won’t they’. After offices partially opened, Gogoi prepared to return to Bengaluru but the second wave tanked her plans.

She moved back to Bengaluru eventually with the IT company she works for adopting a hybrid model for now. “It has started feeling difficult to go back to work fully. The expenses appear higher and the lifestyle much more difficult than what it used to feel before the pandemic. Maybe the lockdowns have spoiled our working habits,” she said.

This comes on the back of rising inflation and fuel rates. India's retail inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), rose to a 17-month high of 6.95 per cent in March. Moreover, petrol and diesel rates increased by Rs 10 each in 14 revisions since March 22.

Gogoi, however, added that on the other hand returning to the office has been refreshing following months of working from home.

Also read: How commute & convenience make employees prefer WFH

Public relations and communications firm BCW India Group’s Chief Talent Officer Priya Mishra agreed that the rise in fuel prices is impacting how and when people come to office. “The cost of living is also another big consideration,” she said but mentioned that their return to office plans have not been hampered by external factors as they are following a hybrid working model. The company also allows employees the option to work from another office location if that is convenient. Mishra said, “If there is one thing the pandemic has taught us it is that you can’t go forward with one fixed idea. You have to stay agile and adapt to whatever comes ahead.”

Delhi-resident Siddharth Singh, who works at a Mumbai-based IT startup, has shifted base to Goa after the company switched to full work-from-home mode. He said that the company has an arrangement with a coworking space company but it is mostly up to the employees to choose their work mode. “If the option of work from home is available, why not utilise it to the fullest,” said Singh.

Employees, with the adoption of WFH, have been able to smoothen out a lot of creases in their professional lives. While many juggle between cities to keep up with their hybrid work mode, some believe working from home has been a blessing logistically.

Singh’s colleague Pranay Sharma, who got married in 2020, now moves between Kolkata and Delhi where his wife works in a media company. “Work from home has allowed me to spend time with my parents at home as well as my wife, who is back at the office. I don’t think this scenario would have been easy to navigate before WFH mode was so widely adopted,” he said.

Also read: Digital fatigue: Employees’ virtual meeting time shoots up 252%, shows study 

But as the severity of cases is declining and most have been vaccinated, companies are expected to ask their employees to return fully and resume the pre-pandemic work culture. However, with a fourth wave looming large, human resource (HR) professionals are exploring the possibility of maintaining their current work mode. Most HR professionals that Business Today spoke to have added that while many prefer to work from home, many employees are also glad to be back in offices.

For instance, P&G Health initiated a return to work through a hybrid model in November 2021. “We continue to operate with this hybrid model which helps bring to life our 3C culture of collaboration, coaching and celebration while enabling individual flexibility. Our endeavour is to enable our employees to bring their best selves to work every day,” said the company’s Director of Human Resources Bhargavi Kakunuri.

Bajaj Electricals’ Head of Human Resources Suman Kumar Ghosh added, “Employees are enthusiastic about coming back to office, meeting colleagues and interacting face-to-face, especially now that the fatigue of working from home for the last two years has set in. However, considering the COVID-19 situation is still volatile, we’re taking a cautious approach ensuring the safety of our colleagues. In some cases, we have deployed a flexible working model where employees can request flexible work timings or locations.”

Ghosh said that macro-economic situations such as inflation might add to the woes of returning to work, making some employees choose to work from home as “they’ve seen the possibility of business continuity with remote working.”

Priya Cherian, Chief People Officer at payments service provider PayU, reiterated Ghosh’s comments. She said that work from the office is voluntary at the company till May. Their internal surveys showed that employees enjoyed the flexibility of working from home but also missed working together with their colleagues. “That’s why we will introduce the hybrid model where employees have the flexibility to choose from two-three (two days from the office) or three-two (three days from the office) options based on their situation and preferences starting June 1,” she clarified.

Also read: Gen Z, millennials most likely to opt for creative side projects to earn extra bucks: Microsoft study

The ticketing platform BookMyShow also adopted a flexible-hybrid work environment, where employees can choose to work from the office on certain days as they see fit. Shamita Ghosh, Head of Human Resources, BookMyShow said that external factors such as inflation and fresh COVID-19 cases have not significantly impacted their work from office plans.

“In fact despite a flexible schedule we are seeing more and more of our employees voluntarily choosing to spend more time at office on the days they choose to come to work so as to spend more meaningful time with their teams and colleagues and eke out the best in terms of output,” she said, adding that they are currently monitoring the situation, and will comply with the government regulations.

Advisory firm Alvarez & Marsal, which adopted the hybrid model, plans to keep it that way till the situation requires them to reconsider. Nimisha Pathak, Head HR, Alvarez & Marsal India said that hybrid work from the office has enabled employees to maintain a better work-life balance, maintain mental well-being and reduce carbon footprint. She believes that this model is here to stay. “We are sure we will be able to ride over the challenges of inflation and any COVID scare,” she said.

Pathak added that there has been minimum resistance from employees in returning to the office. “The return to office has been a refreshing change for many of us, especially after two years of work from home,” she said, further adding, “We are continuously monitoring the situation and all our decisions are taken keeping employees' well-being, both physical and mental at the top. We will rethink when the need arises but for now, the hybrid model is working well for us.”

Uber India too has plans to continue with its hybrid return to office approach. “We are continuing with a hybrid return to office approach which has seen a lot of employees preferring to work from office space while a good number continues to work from home,” said the company, further adding that domestic and international business travels have been resumed but are undertaken only when critical.

Also read: Indians most likely to put health ahead of work: Microsoft study