ABSTRACT
The mayhem caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a situation of despondency with several corporate crises. Furloughs, layoffs, resignations and shutdown of business entities were worrisome during the lockdown. Such a situation led to a new normal of “Work-from-home” (WFH). WFH, Hybrid working and Office 2.0 are a few terms that are going viral. This sporadic WFH option came as a permanent one for almost a year that led to serious concerns and complexities for employers as well as employees. Although it offers significant benefits in terms of minimizing operational costs, yet elevated technical and socio-psychological challenges. Where WFH came as the desired opportunity for some, it seemed to be inadvertent for many. It began to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. At present, many organizations are planning towards adopting this idea permanently, notably, Microsoft, Infosys, Policy Bazar, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, Facebook and Unilever, among others. Such an idea of Remote working is more prevalent among Information Technology (IT) companies. Still, many IT companies are apprehensive about the idea of “Permanent WFH,” and employers and employees have different opinions on the same. An organizational hierarchy is made of distinct levels of authority and responsibility; thus, it becomes a necessity to analyze the perspectives of employees and employers. The objective is to assess the economic, operational and psychological aspects of employees currently WFH with Financial Services & Technology and IT companies, through multi-method research. We also stress the view of employers and leadership, and the problems faced by them. The research tries to investigate the willingness of employers and employees to adopt WFH permanently in the Indian context.
