Indian companies changing rules to call employees back to office

Apart from Indian companies, Apple Inc has asked its employees to attend office three times a week. Employees have been asked to attend office on Tuesdays, Thursdays and a day depending upon the team

Indian companies are introducing several measures to call their employees back to the office. These include higher variable pay and employee engagement budgets. India Inc is also withdrawing the internet allowance to signal that the employees might soon be required to attend office physically, a report in Mint stated. 

The phenomenon is not limited to Indian companies. There have been debates going on around the importance of working as a team from the office. Apple Inc has asked its employees to attend the office three times a week. They have been asked to attend office on Tuesday, Thursday and a day depending upon the team's requirements. 

"When we recruit candidates, we are making it clear that it is back to office across divisions. We had initially faced some hesitations from those in the IT and tech teams but with constant communication and engagement we managed to overcome that hurdle," Adarsh Mishra, chief human relations officer at consumer electronics firm Panasonic Life Solutions India, was quoted by Mint as saying. 

The Covid leave policy, given if a person tests positive, has also been reduced to 7 days from 14 days earlier in several companies. KPMG India has also changed the rules around the internet allowance. Earlier it was provided to every employee, but now it is only given on a case-to-case basis. 

"We have enhanced employee engagement budgets by almost 50% compared to last year to encourage more in-person activities including learning events and townhalls," Sunit Sinha, partner and head, people, performance and culture, KPMG India told Mint. 

With hiring rates declining after two years of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the employees might not be left with many options now.