[atnyia]

I could be living in a different world but most folks in my organization are happy with the WFH setup (except some very senior folks). The productivity is up. A lot of us have become physically fitter as we have more time. I don't see anyone turning up late for meetings.

Another trend I see is that the very senior folks want offices to open ASAP and work from the office. Folks like me who are in the middle of the road, are ambivalent. Once the schools start, the wifey and the son both would be gone for most part of the day. I'll just go to the office out of boredom at home and to avoid cooking food. Folks who have just started (relatively) don't ever want to come to the office (or even Bangalore).

This could be the generation gap or reducing friend circles with age that could be a factor for people's view on WFH.

I don't think people missing/late from meetings and work is about being Desi. The issue may be more prevalent in service-oriented companies where the entry barrier is low (a lot of people with average talent) and people aren't paid well enough. I worked for service-based organizations for the most part and I see why it happens.

My takeaway is that once you hire good people, give them enough ownership and they are paid well, location is almost irrelevant.

[Dhillon]

Well, our organization surrendered one of its office this July and now we have no option but to work from home. I usually get bored working from home daily so I go to a co-working space.
I call it Co-working Wednesdays

It helps me to meet new people + a change of place helps me to execute my tasks faster.

[DudeWithaFiat]

Originally Posted by .sushilkumar

In the name of data protection, my employer monitors my each and every key stroke including the one i am typing here

Got to know this when i just copied my mark sheets to my another laptop on home network and security chaps started running circles around my manager , asking why i copied that PDF.

They might have tools (what they call Data Loss Prevention solutions) to prevent or alert them if you happen to copy data out of your laptop, but they definitely DO NOT monitor your keystrokes. It will be wrong at so many levels, ethical and legal. Logging all your keystrokes immediately puts confidential data at a huge risk. No company or security teams will ever want to do that.

Coming back to the topic of WFH, I am negotiating a permanent WFH from my employer. I find myself more productive this way. Most of my teammates too share the same opinion. The amount I spent on the additional electricity/internet is only a small fraction of what I save on fuel, time, rent, and the 3-times-an-year home flight tickets.

[Akshay6988]

People in higher job levels ( usually married and having kids ) want to go to the office, as it gets overwhelming at home. People like me - bachelors and juniors are preferring WFH because well the money is saved, no traffic, no sub par food from cafeterias and literally work from anywhere (workation). So yeah I don't see point in debating here over perks and drawbacks of WFH. As long as deliverables are delivered on time, higher level management shouldn't have problem with people who are working remotely.

[nTorq]

Obviously, a hybrid scenario is going to be the future. Simply for the fact that a full time WFH does not really ensure highest productivity, and full time WFO is no longer accepted by many of the employees.

I personally prefer a hybrid setup myself, allowing 2 days of time for any discussions, collaboration with the team etc. , while having an undisturbed 2-3 days of WFH.

However, one thing that we (employees) need to keep in mind is that WFH is not a privilege we are entitled to forever. It is a courtesy extended by our employers to make sure that they don’t put us and our families at risk. We should be grateful for that.

[ampere]

One can remotely work today because in one way his/her work is so structured that one just needs to execute and don't need to interact with another member strongly.

If the work does require strong human interaction, even then probably one is able to still deliver because in the past one has made a good connect with his team. It is that connect which is helping to deliver on the innovation quotient. Because we can gauge what the other person in the team is going through.

If that connect was not there: Say for example a new team member joining remotely under the pandemic circumstances. How will he be able to judge the pulse of his team? It just won't happen. But if the same person's job is defined by a process/structure then its just about following the process. WFH thrives!

[Neversaygbye]

Does WFH work? The answer is that it depends. Firstly it depends on the individual and how sincere that person is, then it depends on the environment at home and how conducive it is for WFH (the reason I have put this second is because sincere individuals tend to find a way to work even if the environment is not supportive).

Does work from office work? Guess what, that also depends. In this case the environment in office and the culture also determine the person's efficiency. Plus the sincerity factor remains constant.

I have worked in offices where people were lazy, spent most of their time in the smoking zone or the canteen, and nothing ever got done on time, and I have also worked with people who were fully WFH but were super efficient. So there is no one size fits all kind of thing here.

Having said that, for many of us WFH allows us to be close to the people who matter, and also helps us save money on maintaining another establishment (for those who have had to relocate for work) and also saves time that would be lost in transit otherwise. I know that I could not have returned to my family and my hometown that easily had WFH not been there. So in the end it should be left to the individual and companies should be flexible in this regard (many of them are).

[mytbhp_turbo]

I have done "work from home" for a very long time, doing it from time when concept was not common in India.
I also spent considerable time in typical "office setup", here are my learning's from both experiences.

Who is it suitable for?

Suitability is not just for person but needs to work for company too, that too for long term.
The most needed quality is sincerity, kind of person who does not break signal even when no one is watching.

Hard Part ?

Learning - In a good corporate setup, you are always surrounded by talent, lot to learn from them, it's not done by doing special 1-1 meetings but happens during normal office hour chit chat, problem solving, casual tech discussions.

Proving performance/communicating -
You will not realize this since everyone is work from home now, but imagine only "You" are remote and rest of your team is at location. Some of the stuff become tougher like you might have to work little harder than everyone else to prove how much you contributed.

Networking -
This is easily ignored side effect, you meet a lot of people during some locally created tech event, interactions like this really help you to create contacts in industry, that not only help you for landing next good profile but can help even if you decide to launch some startup (it's true story).

Good Part ?

Saving time on commute/more family time.
healthier lifestyle - your eat-out lot less when you work from home compared to when you are outside for whole day.

[am1m]

We'd been told informally for a while now, but the company I work for just made it official- moving to a 'remote-friendly' model permanently. Those who want to work from office will be assigned a space, the rest can work from wherever they want to. Once a quarter, teams will try and arrange a day or an outing where everyone gets to meet physically.

Thanking my stars for making the move to this place! The previous company I worked for is located in the infamous 'Bellandur IT (Traffic) Zone'. Inside an IT park that has a separate thread on this forum dedicated to it's traffic issues. And I see that the deadline for the ORR metro has quietly gone to 2027 now (as per the Wikipedia page). Pre-covid and pre-metro construction itself it used to take me a hour sometimes to cover the 12km to work! Can only imagine the traffic there for the next 6 years with the metro construction going on.

Hope all those people managers who insist on "in-person interactions for productivity" do find the productivity increase worth it after the extra hours in traffic!

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by am1m

We'd been told informally for a while now, but the company I work for just made it official- moving to a 'remote-friendly' model permanently...

Thanking my stars for making the move to this place!

Congrats... do you still work in Bangalore, or have you moved to a smaller town? Those who own homes in Bangalore or kids in school don't have a choice.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Congrats... do you still work in Bangalore, or have you moved to a smaller town? Those who own homes in Bangalore or kids in school don't have a choice.

Still officially based in Bangalore since I have my permanent residence/address there. But must have spent just about a month cumulatively there the past year. Been working out of couple of different places along the west coast.

[Latheesh]

Originally Posted by am1m

We'd been told informally for a while now, but the company I work for just made it official- moving to a 'remote-friendly' model permanently.

I do not have anything meaningful to add. Congrats and enjoy your permanent WFH career phase.

[NetfreakBombay]

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com...w/88329720.cms

It seems income tax might allow deductions for WFH expenses. I guess things like infra (machine + power backup + internet) and work furniture should be eligible.

[sunilch]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com...w/88329720.cms

It seems income tax might allow deductions for WFH expenses. I guess things like infra (machine + power backup + internet) and work furniture should be eligible.

This is likely to get balanced by removal of the Conveyance Allowance or other form of travel benefits that some employees get. None the less, a good initiative.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by sunilch

likely to get balanced by removal of the Conveyance Allowance...

Agree, this makes sense as well. If someone is WFH, she need not spend on daily travel. Travel that might be needed once a month / quarter might be considered business expense, and not taxable in the hand of employee.

Similarly, HRA will be reduced as well. Not sure if this is meaningful for new tax regime as well.