New Delhi: A significant number of professionals in the information technology sector have had enough of working from home. They want to be back in office, at least for three days a week, according to a survey by the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom).
The survey found that almost 50 per cent of IT employees wanted to see an end to the work-from-home mode and be back in office. Incidentally, more employees (38 per cent) aged 40 and above expressed their desire for an immediate return to office than their younger counterparts (36 per cent) aged below 25, the survey found. Only 26 per cent of employees in the age group of 25-40 wanted to be back in office.
The Nasscom survey covered 6,002 employees and 156 IT firms. Almost all firms in IT and allied sectors have orderedwork-from-home ever since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic early last year.
The survery also found that most employees favoured a hybrid model, alternating between working from home and office on specific days of the week.
Major findings
- 60 per cent of the companies will be ready to reopen their offices by January. 72 per cent of companies favoured their offices to function with half the strength at a time.
- 66 per cent of employees were satisfied with the work-from-home model.
- 57 per cent of IT firms expressed willingness to reopen offices in three months. 30% of companies favoured reopening after three to six months.
- One-third of employees favoured working in office for more than three days a week.
- Most employees (28 per cent) who favoured working from office cited better infrastructure as the reason. Work-life balance was the reason for 20 per cent.
- 36 per cent believed working from office would better their relationship with the employer.
- Companies cited three reasons for reopening offices: organisational culture (51 per cent), cyber/information security (28 per cent) and seriousness of projects (21 per cent).
- Benefits employees found in work-from-home model: Protection from COVID (68 per cent), improved productivity (13 per cent), convenient/flexible working hours (13 per cent) and better communication with colleagues (eight per cent).