A research study to assess the potential impact, especially economic, of the COVID-19 induced lockdown, on occupations, industries and the different districts of the country has been initiated by the Indian School of Business (ISB).
Using a 2019 survey of 3,000 workers to measure the impact on over 100 occupations – as defined in the National Classification of Occupations of the Ministry of Labour and Employment – the research assigned a Work from Home Index (WFI) to each occupation. A ‘Human Proximity Index’ (PI) was also assigned to each one of these occupations.
Sharing details of the initial findings, of the ongoing study, a release from ISB said the WFI and PI indices were mapped, district-wise and industry-wise, to determine the impact of the current lockdown. In this district-level measure, researchers found that cities had a higher potential for work from home, with many services based from here. Also, some urban districts were found more amenable to work from home.
“Surprisingly, not just urban centres like Hyderabad, Delhi or Bangalore fell high on the WFI, but the entire peninsular south India was found to have a high work from home potential,” said Shekhar Tomar, faculty in the Economics and Public Policy area at ISB and co-researcher of the study.
Some unintuitive findings also came from the study. Most jobs which have a high work from home potential and high human proximity, for example, middle school teaching associates, were found to be highly susceptible to automation, owing to their high work from home potential, the release said. The researchers said sectors which are more prone to working from home may be provided with a policy nudge, like tax breaks, by the government. Organisations might need to design effective policies, practices and initiatives that assist or complement WFH.
Co-researcher of the study and Executive Director of the ISB research centre Srini Raju Centre for IT and the Networked Economy (SRITNE) Deepa Mani said: “I think we are going to see new digital models which will come in and alter consumer behaviour. Firms must, therefore, watch for these new digital business models.”
The study is assessing the impact on workers across various dimensions like psychological impact, productivity and well-being, the release said.