Corporates exercise caution, continue with work from home

Even with lockdown restrictions being eased from Monday, corporates in the city said they will continue to ask employees to work from home for at least a few more

Even with lockdown restrictions being eased from Monday, corporates in the city said they will continue to ask employees to work from home for at least a few more weeks, while they finalise strategies to enforce social distancing in the coming months.

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Spokespersons of several IT companies, start-ups and private offices said on Monday that given the rise in the number of cases in the district over the past week, they will not be reopening offices on Monday. The absence of public transport, and the sealing of the borders at Delhi are the main driving factors behind their decision, in addition to the safety of the employees.

As seen with industries in Gurugram, corporate life will take longer to assume normalcy while adjusting to the various constraints of a post-COVID-19 world, many said.

Sudhir Kamath, the founder of 9Stacks, a Gurugram based online gaming company, said, “The situation is nowhere near improvement. We will call our employees to work only after finalising some guidelines, which we are working on. The plan is to ensure that only 30% of the staff comes to office at a time.”

Similarly, Manas Fuloria, CEO of the IT firm Nagarro, said that they would not be calling people to work unless it is absolutely necessary. “As per the ministry of home affairs’ instructions, we can function with up to 75% capacity after May 11, and permissions are not needed from district administration, but we believe it’s not imperative to have that many of our staff to come in. We will take a call on it closer to the end of the month.”

Fuloria, Kamath and others weighed in on the uncertainty of the situation, pointing out that the opening up offices will increase employees’ risk of contracting Covid-19. As such, most companies have already prepared, or are in the process of preparing action plans to make workspaces safer for employees.

E-commerce player Snapdeal, for example, has redesigned various aspects of its Gurugram office to facilitate social distancing. Certain desks, for example, have been marked not for use. Shared spaces such as bathrooms and the cafeteria will allow only a few people at a time, while a daily schedule has been designed for sanitising shared spaces, such as entry points, lobbies, pantries, and printing rooms.

“Snapdeal’s office at Gurugram will be shut till May 17 and any reopening decision after that will be subject to continuous assessment of the situation, including government advisories, movement restrictions at interstate borders within the National Capital Region(NCR) and availability of transport facilities,” a company spokesperson said.

Many corporates are keen to open up offices by early June, though at reduced capacities, like Gurugram-based software company HostBooks, which is currently functioning at 60% strength, having asked certain departments to be on leave without pay.

“We are not planning to open our office as of now. We will wait until the end of the month. Even with social distancing, there are chances of staff contracting the disease. As such, we don’t want to take that risk,” said Kapil Rana, chairman and founder, HostBooks.

Others said they would wait for clearer guidelines to come from the Centre. “Although the government has allowed us to resume with limited staff, we are waiting for clearer orders after the first few days and will see how it goes before reopening,” said Karann Talwar, managing director, Kitchen Kraft Luxury Catering in Gurugram.

MOBILITY STILL A MAJOR CONSTRAINT

Transport services remained sparse on Monday, with buses and metro services remaining shut. “A lot of the workforce comes from Delhi. That’s one big issue on which we have no clarity,” said Pankaj Bhatt, who runs a corporate training firm in the city with several employees living outside Gurugram.

Private cabs will be resuming operations within the city though and in other orange and green zones. Ola, for example, said on Monday it will start services in over 100 cities, including Gurugram. Wearing masks will be compulsory, and more than two passengers per car will not be permitted.

However, Bhatt and other employers said that unless cheaper, and mass transit services like buses, Metro, and sharing autos are allowed, “the workforce won’t be able to commute.”

Yogesh Sharma, president of the Haryana Auto Chalak Sangathan, said, “The Centre’s order states that in green and orange zones, auto-rickshaw can ply with just one passenger. But many auto drivers have returned home. Others are unwilling to ply because the demand is little. A few auto drivers affiliated with Ola and Uber have started plying on Monday. It’s hard to say when the auto-rickshaws will start again.”