Employers who don’t embrace hybrid will lose talent, says Coursera boss Jeff Maggioncalda

From accepting work from home with open arms at the beginning of the pandemic, and acknowledging it as the future of work, some of the companies globally, including top IT companies in India, have now taken a U-turn. After over two years of working from home (WFH), Indian IT companies, including TCS, Wipro, and HCL, are encouraging employees to resume office. As an increasing number of companies are transitioning back to the office, Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of ed-tech platform Coursera, believes employers that don't offer hybrid are going to lose talent to those employers that do.

In an exclusive conversation with Business Today, he explained, “I believe that any employer who tries to get the employees to come back five days a week will end up with not the best talent. The best talent is going to say - you want me to work for you? Here's what I need. I need flexibility. I need good pay. But part of that means I want to have a hybrid work experience. And those employers that don't offer hybrid, I think they're going to lose talent to those employers that do.”

In India, and especially in Delhi NCR and Bengaluru, employees spend a lot of time commuting to work. Because of this, even before the pandemic, some of the MNCs started experimenting with flexible timings. With life returning to normal and employees spending a lot of time in travel, Maggioncalda said, “And to your point about transportation and commuting, I think a lot of employees are realizing they're not very productive when they're on buses and trains and in cars stuck in traffic. They're far more productive if they work remotely. We see a lot of employers saying, ‘Oh, we want you to come back to the office’. But a lot of employees are saying - I can be more productive working from home; maybe I'll come to the office once a week, maybe once every two weeks”.

That said, Maggioncalda also thinks there's something valuable about working from the office. “Especially for a young person coming out of college, who's trying to learn their new job, meeting their colleagues, meeting their manager, face to face, that's very valuable. But once you've been onboarded, and you think about productivity, I think some sustained face-to-face is valuable. But five days a week, my guess is that the penalty that you pay with inefficiency is not worth the benefits that you get by having a more socially cohesive group.”

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