Infosys has asked its employees in the United States and Canada to return to the office.
It has said that they will need to take special permission if they desire to work remotely.
Whom it applies to
It has also warned of disciplinary measures if anyone fails to adhere to the new work policy.
The new mandate applies to its workforce in the United States and Canada, where it employs over 30,000 individuals.
This new working policy does not apply to its offices in India.
Three-phase plan
However, last year, the company introduced a three-phase plan in India to gradually transition employees back to working in the office.
In the first phase, employees were allowed to come to the office twice a week as per their convenience.
The second phase provided the option for employees to either relocate to a different branch office or request a transfer.
Developing a hybrid-work policy
Finally, Infosys would develop a hybrid-work policy based on feedback from the previous stages.
It will take into consideration factors such as clients, regulatory environment and a number of other considerations.
Krishnamurthy Shankar, Executive Vice President and Group Head of HR Development had said about the potential return of employees to the office, “It will be exciting to see how our teams will explore their own return to office plans by creatively and pragmatically blending project and business imperatives along with collective working convenience.”
Co-founder’s words
This recent shift in policy aligns with opinions shared by Infosys co-founder, Narayana Murthy.
He had said, “My fervent desire and humble desire to youngsters is please don’t fall into this trap of ‘I will moonlight, I will do work from home, I will come to the office three days in a week.”
Other companies
TCS remains the only IT giant in India that has mandated a return to work from office.
The company warned its employees against work from home and that they might face disciplinary action if the daily rota is not followed.
Wipro last year introduced a phase-wise approach to bring employees back to the office.