TCS Ends Work-From-Home Policy. What Does It Mean For Its Employees?
Tata Consultancy Services or TCS has decided to discontinue its work-from-home policy, requiring all employees to return to the office for all five working days starting October 1, CNBC-TV18 reported.
TCS associates, who were previously working from the office for three days a week, will now be mandated to attend the office full-time.
The decision was conveyed to the employees through an official email. “As communicated by the CEO and chief human resources officer (CHRO) in various townhalls, it is mandatory for all associates to attend office on all the working days (5 days per week if there are no holidays) starting 1 October 2023,” the news portal quoted the official mail.
The work-from-home option was initially implemented as a response to the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and many IT companies were first to embrace it due to the nature of their work, which allowed for remote operations. However, as the situation has gradually returned to normal, companies are encouraging employees to return to the office, citing increased efficiency.
Critics argue that work-from-home results in the loss of certain intangible benefits that are only possible in a physical office environment.
The flexibility of working in WFH has led to protests and many employees leaving organisations that enforce work-from-office.
TCS’s shift in policy aligns with its long-standing emphasis on the importance of physical interactions among employees. The company’s FY23 annual report highlighted the importance of employees learning from each other’s behaviour and different ways of thinking through in-person interactions.
“Without those interactions, employee engagement as well as acculturation got badly impacted. All these factors led us to gradually bring back people to our offices during the year,” the annual report said.
TCS, being the largest private employer in India with a workforce of over 6,00,000 people as of March 2023, this policy change will impact a significant number of employees who will now need to commute to the office.