Third wave fears darken India Inc’s plan

The uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 situation in the country amid warnings of an impending third wave has left India Inc with no clear-cut answers about when it can call employees back to office.While many companies, particularly in sectors such as manufacturing and industrial, engineering, automotive, FMCG, consumer durables, and healthcare, are clear that a majority of their employees will have to return to office, they have adopted a wait and watch policy with some deferring such plans until the end of August, industry officials and employment lawyers said.“There is no clarity on how the third wave will impact, how soon restrictions will be lifted, and when we can have the majority of our workforce back in office,” said Sudhir Dhar, executive director, human resources at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.Recent warnings from official think tank Niti Aayog that the fall in Covid-19 cases has slowed down and the next 100-125 days will be critical in the fight against the pandemic have caused some dilly-dallying among companies that were planning to open up soon, industry experts said.“Vaccination programme is making progress; however, India Inc is far from getting all its employees fully vaccinated,” said Aditya Narayan Mishra, chief executive officer of CIEL HR Services. “The uncertainty about the pandemic and the possibility of a third wave is leading to a dilemma among companies about their plans to take gradual steps back to normalcy.” Anshul Prakash, a partner at law firm Khaitan & Co who specialises in employment and labour laws and works with several top companies, said companies are clear about having people back at office as long-term work from home (WFH) is not a solution. “However, there is some dilly-dallying among companies at this stage,” Prakash said. “Some are considering reassessment of office space requirements due to a continued lack of clarity on possible full-fledged physical presence as the third wave may defer their plans to call employees back.” Several companies, including Wipro, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, ITC, Cognizant, and Panasonic India, said they are reviewing the situation closely.“Safety is of paramount importance in determining a larger proportion returning to office. It’s best to monitor test positivity rates and then determine the extent of working from office,” said Amitav Mukherji, head of corporate human resources at ITC, which has 10-20% of its workforce back in office.Goldman Sachs’ return to office plans in Bengaluru and Hyderabad offices are deferred until the end of August while Wipro has extended its WFH policy till end August.Some multinational companies said their return to office plans will depend on location specific parameters such as vaccination, infection graph, government guidelines and employee safety.“We continue to review the situation on ground and will have staff returning to the office in phases only once it is safe to do so,” a Morgan Stanley spokesperson said.Many companies have their eyes on the progress of vaccination drive. “Our top priority is to encourage completion of vaccinations,” said Shantanu Jha, senior vice-president, HR, at Cognizant India.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3hPkMS8