Corona is here to stay, Work from Home to continue

This year also, the culture of Work from Home (WFH) is likely to continue, because Corona is here to stay for a longer period, or may be forever. The virus will live here permanently and we have to learn to live with it. It is heard that the central government is working on a certain plan to bring in a legal framework for WFH practice that aims to define the liability of employers for employees who are working from their homes. Work from home culture is going on not only in our country but in many countries around the world. With the arrival of Omicron, the new variant of Corona virus, the culture of WFH is likely to continue in 2022. The central governments and private companies are also considering the suggestion that a hybrid model should be adopted, in which some days work is done in the office and some days from home. The Delhi government has already given instructions to private companies to keep their offices closed and adopt the work from home model. In the last two years, the functioning of almost all large corporate companies has been affected a lot due to this reason.
 
Since the employees have to spend on computers, electricity and internet etc. for WFH, the government is also considering fixing the working hours and paying internet and electricity bills also. The government has started feeling that Corona is not going to leave us soon, so rules should be made regarding long-term work from home so that no party has to suffer and the wheel of the economy keeps spinning. In the new structure of the government, companies from all sectors will be asked to follow the guidelines. Many countries have already made rules in this regard. Keeping in view the changing health situation, Bangalore-based Infosys has said that it has taken a cautious approach. Earlier, the company owned by NR Narayana Murthy had said that it would bring its employees back to the office. Similarly, HCL had the same plan and is now taking precaution.
 
As soon as the third wave of Corona started, work from home in corporate companies started again. It is estimated that the situation will remain like this till April or longer, till then the normal functioning of the offices will be disrupted and the employees will work from their homes only. Cipla pharmaceutical company has issued a work from home order, while Mahindra & Mahindra Mutual Fund has asked employees to come to office only for three days, for the remaining three days they will work from their homes. State government employees in Maharashtra will also follow the work from home rule of three days a week. Other companies where the work from home rule has come into force are Parle, Flipkart, Dabur, RPG, MakeMyTrip and Marico. Less than 10% of the employees of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's largest IT company, are currently working from their offices. The Ministry of Health has also advised companies not to call back their employees and implement the work from home system as much as possible. Earlier, many companies in the IT sector were preparing for the return of employees to their office space.

(Author is a senior journalist and columnist)