‘Return to office’ helps support staff

Many livelihoods depend on employees working from office

Hyderabad: With more and more IT and ITES companies asking their staff to return to the office, there appears to be reluctance among employees, who for some time have grown accustomed to work from home, regarding this transition.

While remote work initially served as a temporary solution during the Covid-19 pandemic, many organisations are now making in-office work a requirement, considering factors such as the livelihoods dependent on the traditional office environment.

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Within the office ecosystem, it’s not just about the employees who occupy desks but also the vital support staff including security personnel, housekeeping teams, drivers, and maintenance crews who keep the workplace running smoothly.

The act of employees working from the office directly contributes to the livelihoods of these essential workers. When one is working from office, they are also supporting people from various livelihoods, points IT Principal Secretary, Jayesh Ranjan.

“Every building has hundreds of people working like security, and housekeeping staff. When an employee is working from home, they get their salary and increments but this whole army of people have a tough life, so with this sensitivity, we have to bring back work from office,” he says.

These roles often represent a segment of the workforce that may not have the luxury of working from home and may not possess substantial savings or financial reserves. The remote work or work-from-home culture had many challenges for these support staff.

As employees transitioned to working from home, the demand for their services kept decreasing, which led to layoffs, reduced work hours, or financial instability for these workers and their families.

“During Covid we thought we would go back to normal soon but then the entire office started working from home. There was no need for us to be there, which led them to fire us from our jobs; it was a tough time for me and my family,” says Raju, a sweeper at an office before Covid.

While remote work offers flexibility and convenience, it is a relatively new concept that raises ethical and productivity concerns. Employers are concerned about potential ethical lapses when employees operate outside the traditional office setting, making the need for a return to the office more compelling in some cases.

Collaboration is another factor, in-office environments foster spontaneous interactions and creative brainstorming, which are often difficult to replicate virtually. While technology has made progress in facilitating virtual collaboration, it cannot fully replace the richness of in-person interactions, it is pointed out.