Few TOP Companies Share Update on WFH Model Amid Availability of COVID-19 Vaccines 

After months of wait and concerns over mass availability of COVID-19 vaccines, leading companies are poised to allow employees to do their jobs remotely until amid-2021. 

Companies feel that the firm is not ready to take the risk of starting operations from offices in a full-fledged manner. With COVID-19 cases on rise, India has become the second country in the world after the US to record 90 lakh (9 million) coronavirus cases. 

Last week, Flipkart and Myntra allowed their staff to work-from-home (WFH) until May 2021.

Even, Ernst & Young (EY) has extended WFH for employees to June next year while Whirlpool has done so to the end of this year. Meanwhile, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) will continue with WFH for another two-three months at least.

Taking a look into the other companies who are following the same, Tata Power and Schneider Electric will keep most of their employees on WFH along with a hybrid operating model. “We took a closer look at the Covid situation and how it has evolved over the last few weeks, and decided on extending remote working till May 31,” Myntra CEO Amar Nagaram, told Economic Times.

Sandeep Kohli, partner and talent leader, EY India, told the financial daily; “We are encouraging employees to WFA/H (work from anywhere/ home) at least till June next year. Post which we are putting in place a hybrid working model, where employees can work from office for two-three days and rest of the week from home.” 

Meanwhile, Deloitte is continuing WFH until the end of 2020. The staff can work from the office after prior booking of seats through the in-house portal. “This helps the admin take stock of headcount at any given time in order to adhere to social distancing norms at offices,” SV Nathan, partner and chief talent officer, Deloitte told ET.

However, Tata Power’s Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) Himal Tewari said that the company is reviewing situations in every site and making changes accordingly. The Tata Power’s hybrid model makes approximately 45 percent of staff to join the office on a daily basis, 35 percent on a rotational basis and 15 percent, mostly technical, finance and support staff, to work from anywhere.

Amid the new normal, many large companies have moved ahead to implement WFH norms, and at present white-collar staff of the conglomerate are working from home. “This arrangement is to continue at least for the next two-to-three months. We are in no haste to open our offices and would assess the situation regularly," Rajeshwar Tripathi, chief people officer, Mahindra and Mahindra, told Business Daily.