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Hyderabad: Techies seek time to return to office

Extra cost burden of accommodation, transportation and other expenses deter them

By Sruti Venugopal

Updated On - 21 July 2021, 01:00 AM

Hyderabad: Techies seek time to return to office

Hyderabad: When 27-year-old Aditya Krishna was informed that his company plans to continue the work from home (WFH) system for as long as possible, Krishna decided to move to his hometown in Tamil Nadu to save costs.

However, now with many IT companies and corporates looking at a Return To Office (RTO) system by August or September, many like Krishna are in a fix.

“What if they call us back now and then after two months tell us that let’s go back to work from home. It will be difficult for me. Currently, I have also informed my manager that I will not be able to join the office till about two months as I need time to look for accommodation, daily meals and also my transportation. These are all additional costs for me,” says Krishna, who has been working in a MNC in Hyderabad for the past three years.

Hyderabad IT sector employs more than six lakh employees and many experts point out that the majority of these employees have moved from other cities and States. Once work from home was announced and it looked like it would continue for longer than expected, many moved cities to be closer to their families. Now, calling them back to work will put an extra cost burden of accommodation, transportation, and other expenses.

“Recently, I was discussing with one of my employees about returning to the office and he said that if the company agrees to pay him Rs 30,000 extra on his salary, then he may consider shifting back to Hyderabad,” says Ravi Korukonda, co-founder, PurpleTalk.

Just before the second wave, they tried to call a few of our employees back to the office, but that did not turn out to be as expected. “Employees whose families stay in Hyderabad, don’t have any problem returning to office but it is a problem for those working remotely from their native cities and States as they need time and additional money to shift locations,” he adds.

Some of the big MNCs operating in Hyderabad have taken a different approach to call back employees to the office.

While only those employees who work in the critical segment like the hardware, security, and facilities are being called back to the office, many employees are being given the option of work from home and come only to the office as and when necessary. Some companies are offering 60 days for remotely working employees to return to Hyderabad and start working from the office.

“My office has created a rooster system wherein each employee is called to the office for two or three days a week. However, when our manager called for a team meeting one of my team members mentioned that he may need time to come back to Hyderabad. Our office decided that whoever is working from their native towns will be given 60 days to come back to the office. For me also it is difficult to go back to the office as my daughter has just started school and her online classes are going on and nobody is there at home to monitor her. So I have requested for an extension of work from home till schools reopen,” says Chaitanya who is working for an American MNC in Hyderabad.