The COVID19 enforced lockdowns, social distancing, and other “new normal” practices have ensured that a majority of the Indian workforce has been working from home for the better part of a year now. In many companies, the employees have been working from home since April 2020 and the current situation does not show any signs of that changing any time soon.
Many companies have started slowly opening up with staff coming to the office on a rotational basis and some have even made it a voluntary option where staff can come in of their own accord a few times a week. On the other end of the spectrum, we have companies who have wholeheartedly adopted the work-from-home culture and have informed their staff that that will be the norm going forward.
This scenario is similar to what the employees have to say as well. There are 2 distinct factions in all companies. One side feels that they need to come to the office to ensure that they get their dose of social interaction and also increase their productivity. The other side believes that working from home has helped them focus better without being stressed by external and environmental factors like traffic, public transportation, and unnecessary workplace gossip.
Personal preferences aside, HR departments of all major companies are busy working on plans for both scenarios. Many activities like training, team building, and corporate certifications have taken a back seat and it is very important to reintroduce it back to the standard workplace. This is regardless of whether it is offline or online.
We had reported earlier that major tech companies like Wipro, TCS, HCL, and Infosys were lining up perks to entice their employees to come back to work. We also have reports that major consulting firms like Accenture and Deloitte are also looking at providing their staff with additional benefits during these uncertain times.
India is home to all the major consulting firms and boasts of employing the creme de la creme of the management pass-outs every year. They throng the placement windows of top institutes like IIM, IIT ISB, etc to ensure that they get their pick of talent before the others.
Our sources at Accenture and Deloitte who together employ over 10,000 people in India told us that they have identified a very disturbing trend. The employees at the two firms have gotten progressively unhealthy since Q2 of 2020. Currently, more than 75% of the staff have either developed physical issues or have gained weight in this period. This trend was first identified by the HR departments of the two companies while doing random catchups with the employees.
“The staff have been confined to their office desks since the start of the Work from Home policy implementation. Although this was the case even before the lockdown where employees used to sit at their desks all day, they at least had some kind of physical activity when they had to come to the office. This included going to the cafeteria for meals, walking for coffee and smoke breaks, and the occasional meeting that they had to go to. All of this is nonexistent now as they work from home and in many cases, even meals are had in front of the laptop.”
Read the full article at: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/08/11/accenture-and-deloitte-looking-to-hire-pt-teachers-for-their-offices-in-india/