[Sidban85]

The worse problem is WFO is not being supported by the ecosystem outside office.

In many cities (Bangalore, wink), landlords are fleecing with rent and deposits that rarely get returned.

Autos never go by meter (Bangalore, Hyderabad) and spew a random number as fare.

Roads are always mired in traffic.

The only carrot big corps understand is share price. The day ESG investors say that employee travel emissions count towards your company emissions or you get ESG brownie points for allowing WFH (where possible), at least the big US corps will go back to WFH option.

[Bhargav7]

Slightly taking a contradictory view from the majority here -

Working from the office is a very expensive affair for organizations. High rentals, maintenance bills, electricity, higher salaries to employees, conveyance, lunch facilities, etc. And the fact that they are ready to spend so much more to bring people back to office says it all - enough of us, the employees, misused the option while it existed. Some of them took the job quite casually while few others had major challenges to perform their duties from their homes. Remember, not everyone will be privileged enough to have a separate room with power backup and a good network at their homes.

The ethical and professional employees had to pay the price because of those slackers. It is a lose-lose situation for everyone - employees and employers.

[wheelspinner]

I really hate not having the opportunity to drive to an office, and have social interactions. At the same time, I am so grateful I don't have to wake up early, and get stuck for hours in traffic to reach the office. It is a double edged sword!

Really, I'm missing the social interactions in WFH. It is very lonely out here.

[Mystic]

Working from home is not a new concept that came into limelight because of the recent pandemic. The labor laws written long back have clearly stated the details. I will tell my experience in USA pre pandemic. I was working for a top MNC and my office location is down town of San Jose, the Silicon Valley of USA. I rarely went to my office as my boss and myself travel almost on all weeks and even if I go to office for networking, it would be couple of times in a year. My company came up with a brilliant idea and sent an e mail to surrender our cubicle in office and create an exclusive space in our home ie., create one of 3 bed rooms to an office. I was surprised that in those days, labor laws say that the room should not be used for personal purposes and an audit may happen at any time by surprise. To compensate the gain the company is getting for the cost of cubicle space in costly down town, they give us an extra incentive in salary which covers the rent of our complete home in Cupertino( good school district for kids). We can always come to office by booking a conference room just in case for any networking meetings.

I hope Indian labor laws are also changed to allow for such inclusions so that it is win win situation for both employee and employer.

[Bhargav7]

Originally Posted by Mystic

I hope Indian labor laws are also changed to allow for such inclusions so that it is win win situation for both employee and employer.

At present, there is no law in India that restricts an organization to give WFH option to employees. Hence there is no law that needs to be amended.

I believe you wanted to imply that employees must have a legal right to work from home. I highly doubt something like that would be welcomed by the industry in the near future.

[Mystic]

Originally Posted by Bhargav7

At present, there is no law in India that restricts an organization to give WFH option to employees. Hence there is no law that needs to be amended.

I believe you wanted to imply that employees must have a legal right to work from home. I highly doubt something like that would be welcomed by the industry in the near future.

WFH is permitted for a maximum period of one year for up to only 50% of employees by Govt for SEZ. This has been exempted up to end of 2023 by Government due to Pandemic for 100% employees . All IT companies in SEZ cannot bypass this law and allow 100% employees for WFH starting from January 1, 2024. We need to wait and watch for new direction from Govt by end of this year.

[DDIS_RE650]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Such reports can be entirely misused in the hands of those who don't understand creative process involved in software development.

I do my best thinking when I am away from the PC, when there is no distraction. Some of my best ideas came while I was driving. How does one measure that time?

I recall an incident that happened 32 years ago when I was a junior programmer. I had taken on a challenging assignment and had run a major design quagmire. Staring at the monochrome text screen (this was before MS-Windows became standard), didn't help. So I went to the park opposite the office building and sat there thinking, dry running all the scenarios in my head. The office boy who saw me sitting there thought I was slacking off, and he came over and made a sly remark. I chased him off with a harsh word. He went and complained to my boss, who was the CEO. Little later the boss came over and asked what's happening. I told him about the design problem I was thinking about. He nodded his head in sympathy and left me alone. Since he was a hardcore programmer himself, he instantly understood I was not slacking off despite gazing at the trees and flowers. Such incidences happened many times over years, but nothing as dramatic. No one ever asked why I was staring at walls or rains away from the PC. {edit: Wife always asks}

Can a HR person or any non-programmer looking at the productivity reports understand this? I doubt it.

Service sector orgs will never realize this, their HR are best to manage Rangoli decoration, pot-luck, Onam, Diwali etc. They are the 1st to leave office and never available when needed. They are just to process some reports and come up with weird policies. I do not understand what is the role of HR in any large delivery engagment. If Account manager > delivery manager > program manager > project leads > function and techies are doing well and able to delivery on time, it does not matter if you work for 6 hours a day or 9 hours day. Many orgs like IBM, Oracle etc they do not have time out machine as they believe in their workforce.
Classic example is Wipro, where in Sarjapur office you may waste 30-40 minutes per day for lift and 20 mins in queue for food. These are utter wastage of time and energy but you still need to maintain 9.15 hours in ODC?

[am1m]

Originally Posted by IndieGooner

I am quite curious to know what companies are offering such remote roles today.

Came across another one today. Won't share the name, because it might come across as an advertisement (plus, I've just applied for a role there! )

10-year old US-based software product company, seem to be doing well, brand name in the domain I currently work in, valued at 2.5B, 500+ employees. All their job descriptions have something like "remote first company, all roles are remote unless specified otherwise".

[Samurai]

Zoom, a symbol of the remote work era, is orchestrating a substantial shift by beckoning its workforce back to the brick-and-mortar confines of the traditional office.

Well, joke writes itself in this case.

[Chennai14]

I am all in for Hybrid which i am doing right now, 2 or 3 days out of office and rest at home. This gives a balance between both worlds.
I must admit that i get to walk a lot, enjoy more coffees (black) while at office, which i miss being at home, sitting at the same place and working for long hours.
And i think Hybrid way is here to stay and it’s been existing for long time in other countries pre-covid as well.

[Samurai]

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy issues stern warning to employees refusing to comply with the company's new in-office work policy, causing unrest among the workforce.

https://www.indiatoday.in/technology...490-2023-08-30

Well, even our firm is implementing RTO + Hybrid. After doing 100% WFH for nearly 4 years, we are missing the advantages of being in the same floor during the workday. As we grow, hiring and training new staff is very hard to do online. Basically, we are locating the office to Manipal where most employees reside. Our hybrid model would be six hours at office, and two hours at home. Since everyone lives within 15 minutes, commute is not a problem.

[Small Bot]

Originally Posted by DDIS_RE650

I do not understand what is the role of HR in any large delivery engagment.

I agree with several sections of HR being dumbed down in specific industries. You need to understand that the direction is always driven by the CEO or whoever leads the business, no matter what excuses they give about 'HR policies'. This includes appraisals and performance measures, HR has way lesser control over individual ratings than you think. All they can do in most service sector companies is a hygiene check to see if policies have been followed. HR is used a cudgel at times, and I've witnessed some nasty arguments and senior leader ousters when HR dared to not toe the line.

Not to say that HR is not to blame. I would have taken a stand against whatever nonsense I'm told, but probably also reprimanded or asked to shut up and leave. There are several HR professionals who just don't want to do anything that might hurt their monthly paycheck. And a specific set of companies like to hire such yes-persons only.

Originally Posted by Samurai

Well, even our firm is implementing RTO + Hybrid. After doing 100% WFH for nearly 4 years, we are missing the advantages of being in the same floor during the workday. As we grow, hiring and training new staff is very hard to do online.

I agree with the fact that sometimes work gets done a lot faster just by being in proximity to your colleagues and being able to quickly ask queries or get support instantly. But I believe that it also depends on the industry and the role played by the colleague. I was in a manufacturing unit early in my career, and working from home makes no sense at any point in time there.

I work in the banking industry, so 2 days in office and 3 days from home is the mandate. While the stated purpose is to ensure that employees benefit from hybrid working, there is also the fact that several seating areas and floors were surrendered to the building owners during the first lockdown, so there is absolutely no space to seat more than 60% of the workforce in office at any given time. Ergo, a planned roster for folks to be in office. Unless more investments in real estate happens, there is no chance of going more than 2 days in office.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Small Bot

You need to understand that the direction is always driven by the CEO or whoever leads the business, no matter what excuses they give about 'HR policies'.

Truer words! I've seen this first hand after a takeover and CEO change. The same HR team transformed under the new CEO who directed them to become more employee friendly. The same team that had a reputation as a completely employee-unfriendly function became a genuinely employee-facing, inclusive and supportive function. And having been in that company for some time before and after the takeover, I saw multiple instances where it was all down to the difference in priorities between the 2 CEOs/board of directors.

[Bhupesh_2628]

TCS ends hybrid working policy, asks employees to join office starting October 1.

Reference link: https://www.cnbctv18.com/education/t...914331.htm/amp

[Small Bot]

Originally Posted by Bhupesh_2628

TCS ends hybrid working policy, asks employees to join office starting October 1.

I wonder how this panned out.

Were TCS required to invest in infrastructure, cafeteria, staff cabs and seating spaces so on again? Really keen to know this.

And how did they manage to deal with tech issues with that many colleagues on the premises?