Omicron hits techies’ plans

Hyderabad: When Srushti Rao bagged an internship opportunity in a top IT company, her joy knew no bounds. She was told to move to Bengaluru from Hyderabad and she immediately packed her bags and moved cities. However, now she is faced with the uncertainty of whether to continue staying in Bengaluru or should move back […]

Hyderabad: When Srushti Rao bagged an internship opportunity in a top IT company, her joy knew no bounds. She was told to move to Bengaluru from Hyderabad and she immediately packed her bags and moved cities. However, now she is faced with the uncertainty of whether to continue staying in Bengaluru or should move back to Hyderabad — her hometown. “My company called us in the first week of January and told us that we will be working from the office. However, in just a week’s time, they told us that they are shifting back to work from home as the new variant – Omicron – started spreading. We are being called to the office just two days a week and due to this, I am not sure if I should move permanently to Bengaluru or Hyderabad,” says the 22-year-old, who is among the many interns or new hires who are facing uncertainty in terms of their place of work.

Many companies – large, small and medium – are procrastinating on work from home and are unable to decide on working from offices. An American MNC in Hyderabad, which had appointed new employees in December, had informed them that their training will happen in physical office spaces. Now, due to the prevailing conditions, the training was shifted online.

“Our company is clear that employees’ health is priority. So all the training has moved online and now these new hires are being called to office only twice a week,” an employee said on condition of anonymity. “The uncertainty that people are facing is across different levels — from interns to freshers to mid-level managers to even CEOs. While the work from the home model may work in the short run, the majority of the companies believe that in the long run, it might not work. We cannot run away from the fact that return to office will happen eventually as WFH does hamper creativity and also impacts mental health. Every company is customising solutions according to their needs and wants and hybrid is going to be the best solution going ahead,” says Sandeep Tiku, COO, Entain.

“Whether it is the IT sector or the non-IT space, training for interns and freshers has to happen in a physical office space. While in the non-IT sector, the majority of the employees are being called to the office, it is only in the IT sector that this flexibility is being offered. This indecisiveness is due to the prevailing situation of Covid and it is causing major chaos among companies and employees,” says Ravi Korukonda, a technology entrepreneur.

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