Now that the pandemic is seemingly over, TCS has decided to end its work from home policy.
Why?
It has now started asking its 6.14 lakh-plus employees to work from offices because of “the value systems and a belief in productivity gains coming from co-working”, Chief Human Resources Officer Milind Lakkad told reporters.
‘We strongly believe that they need to come to work so that the new workforce gets integrated with the larger workforce of TCS. And that is the only way they will learn and understand and internalise the TCS values and the TCS way. So yes, we are asking…”
He added that in the last three years, it has hired a large number of people and hence, it is essential to instill the same values in all employees.
’25 by 25′ still on?
When asked if the ’25 by 25′ vision still remains, wherein it was aiming to reduce the number of people present in offices to 25 per cent by 2025, Lakkad said, ‘We can’t say that’.
Chief Operating Officer N Ganapathy Subramaniam said one can deduce that the ’25 by 25′ agenda will be defocused now.
He said the high level of hiring and also the attrition over the last three years makes it necessary for getting all staffers in offices, and that 70 per cent of the employees have started to come to office.
During the pandemic
Within 7-10 days after the lockdowns were announced after the outbreak of Covid-19, the company shifted to a work from home (WFH) model to ensure that client needs continue to be supported remotely.
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Samir Seksaria said it had never given up on offices and campuses even during the pandemic, and added that the move to get people back to offices will not impact the profit margins substantially.
The company reported a decline in the overall staff to 6,08,985 from over 6.15 lakh in the quarter-ago period, and 6.16 lakh in the year-ago period.
Loss of 6,000 employees
Concerning the decline of over 6,000 employees in three months, Lakkad said the fall in the net employee count is because of slower new hiring and not attrition.
TCS has ‘recalibrated’ its hiring strategies.
The company is honoring all offers on freshers’ intake, but Lakkad admitted business requirements may result in delays in joining dates.
Fresher hiring
The fresher hire target of 40,000 for the current fiscal still remains, and Lakkad said the company is already at campuses for the next round of hiring.
The company is witnessing a surge in its joining ratio with a larger number of freshers, Lakkad said. He also asked everybody not to equate overall headcount with business growth, underlining the oft-repeated point on non-linearity.
