Night curfew, 10% manpower rider may force IT cos to continue WFH

Nagpur: As the state government has allowed private offices to operate with 10% manpower, smaller organizations are finding it of little help and are demanding some more leeway. Large industries like those in the IT sector are expected to continue with the work from home system, say sources in the industry.
The night curfew impacts major part of the work in large IT companies. “The units mainly cater to foreign clients, for which work has to take place in night shifts according to the overseas time. However, a final plan is yet to be drawn in most of the units,” said sources.
As TOI talked to a cross section of businessmen in different sectors, the response was mixed. Most of the IT companies in the Mihan-SEZ have closed their offices and continuing work from home.
Amitabh Khanna, president of Vidarbha Association of Software Exporters (VASE), said night curfew remains to be a major obstacle for big IT units. The large players have adjusted to the work from home culture. However, smaller companies are expecting some more relaxations. In a typically small company, a lot of coordination is needed in the team for which physical presence is required.
A HCL spokesperson said, “It is going to take some time to determine the long-term model. But directionally, we see in long run 50% of our employees would work from home.”
On the Nagpur unit, the spokesperson said the situation is being reviewed on a regular basis. HCL is among the major players in Mihan-SEZ. Sameer Bendre of Persistent Systems said he is looking forward to start operations with the permissible 10% staff.
Anand Sancheti, director of SMS Group, said, “10% will not be enough to work effectively. Rather the government should allow attendance on the basis of space available in each office to ensure distancing.”
Sancheti said current situation has also left the employees nervous. If only part of the workforce is asked to come, others are scared that they are going to be laid off.
Charted accountant Julfesh Shah said once full-fledge operations begin, they may be needing more persons in office.
PR and advertisement professional Sanjay Arora said he has realized during the lockdown that work from home also works. “Not using the office would save as much as 1% of the interest cost,” he said. Manish Bidwai who is also in the same profession agreed. “In our business, we can continue working from home but it may not be feasible in number of other industries,” said Bidwai.
Insurance agent and financial adviser Bharat Parekh said he looks forward to resume work with 10% staffers.
Ranjit Dani, also a financial adviser, said, 10% would be too less for professionals like him to start the office and would rather prefer continue from home till things are completely normalized.