IT sector's return to office will be gradual, not 100% in 2021

Hyderabad, January 1

Information technology companies' return to office in 2021 will be gradual with no perceptible change by end of March.

Return to Office (RTO) will peak towards the end of 2021 and will never be 100 per cent, revealed a survey by Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association (HYSEA), the apex body of IT and ITeS companies in Hyderabad.

60 per cent of the companies plan to have less than 20 per cent of their workforce operating from office by end of March 2021. But there will be significant increase of 40 per cent in Work from Office (WFO) numbers by end of June.

Nearly 75 per cent of large and very large companies are planning only 0-9 per cent employees working from office by end of March. By June 2021, WFO percentage is likely to touch 20 and in quite a few cases, WFO is expected to touch 30 per cent. By December 2021, the likely WFO percentage for large and very large companies is 50-70.

More than 55 per cent of the Industry plans to increase WFO percentages to greater than 70 per cent by Dec 2021, with more than 39 per cent planning to increase to greater than 90 per cent WFO. No one responded saying 100 per cent WFO will return, said HYSEA, a registered apex body with more than 300 members representing the IT/ITES industry in Hyderabad.

As many large companies have reported that a significant percentage of their employees are working from outside Hyderabad (native places), RTO will become that much more time-consuming and complex considering the reverse migration that needs to happen in large numbers, survey report said.

More than 50 per cent of the companies have reported more than 25 per cent of their Hyderabad based workforce operating from outside Hyderabad, while 25 per cent of the companies have more than 50 per cent of their workforce operating from outside the city. More than 50 per cent of large and very large companies have reported that 25 per cent or more of their employees are working from outside Hyderabad. In some cases, it is more than 50 per cent of employees. It is tough to predict when (and if) such a massive workforce will return to Hyderabad, said HYSEA.

More than 63 per cent of companies report a productivity levels greater than 90 per cent relative to the pre-pandemic levels. In case of large and very large companies, nearly 100 per cent responded saying that the productivity levels are greater than 90 per cent and in some cases 100 per cent.

The survey revealed that there are very few cases of stress and inclusivity issues were observed during the prolonged WFH. Many companies handled the situation well with proactive measures.

The IT/ITES industry in Hyderabad has over 5.82 lakh employees working in 1,500 companies. The sector had clocked exports of over Rs 1.28 lakh crore during 2019-20. — IANS

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