As per the reports, the Tata Consultancy Services’ (TCS) 25×25 work-from-home (WFH) model is setting new standards for the IT companies, tagged ambitious and may result in huge savings in terms of facilities, transport and rentals.
What Does TCS Say?
Although, industry watchers are not quite convinced. Many have pointed out that the system is still evolving and it is too early to say if it works.
According to Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO, TCS, in the FY20 annual report, “Our customers are comfortable with this model and want us to take more work that others are not able to handle. This has given us the confidence to come out with a bold new Vision 25×25.”
It is the company’s belief that by 2025, only 25 percent of its associates will need to work out of facilities at any point in time.
How Will This Help TCS?
With this implementation, the employees will not need to spend more than 25 percent of their time at work.
According to them this will be beneficial to both, the employer and employees.
While most of the experts and top IT executives agreed that savings come from facility and travel.
So far, facility expenses account for about 3.1 percent of its revenue on average for TCS.
Although in FY20, the expense came down by 33 percent and it accounted for only 1.4 percent of the overall revenue, it stood at Rs 2,175 crore, down 33 percent from Rs 3,275 crore in FY19.
But, a top executive from a major IT firm said the biggest saving would be from transport.
So far, the company did not disclose the quantum of savings, the executive said that the savings are huge, that could also be applicable to TCS as well.
Apart from that, the company can cut down on visa and travel expenses if remote working becomes a norm globally as travel accounts for about 2 percent of overall revenue.
This model offers flexibility and also would give more opportunities for those in tier 2 and 3 cites as remote working becomes a norm.
What Are The Hurdles?
Apart from TCS, other companies are still evaluating options with some looking at the 50-50 model, where 50 percent will work from the office and others from home, till the time vaccine is in the market.
According to Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft, permanent WFH could be damaging to employees.
TCS has launched an initiative to help employees deal with stress and anxiety. Although, it is too early to say how effective this would be.
Apart from that, Pareekh Jain, founder, Pareekh Consulting, pointed out that Indian homes are not suitable for long-term WFH given that people live with extended families and often share smaller space.
While, Kanchana Krishnan, Senior Director, JLL India, a real estate consultancy firm, said that majority of the workforce are middle-class families who might not be able to invest to create a workstation at home.
Jain also pointed out that, “In addition, WFH in part works well since you are already working with people you know. It is yet to be seen how team collaboration will work when a new person joins the team,”.
The issue was maintaining the company culture, since people are working from home so it would be a little bit difficult to create that environment in this new setup.