Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest IT company, is discontinuing its hybrid working policy. In an internal communication issued in mid-September, the company has mandated that its employees must return to the office five days a week starting October 1, 2023. This marks a change from the previous policy where employees were required to be in the office for only three days a week.

The official communication states, “As communicated by CEO and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) in various townhalls, it is mandatory for all associates to attend the office on all working days (5 days per week if there are no holidays) starting October 1, 2023.”

The company has not yet responded to queries regarding this change in policy.

In its FY23 annual report, TCS emphasized the importance of employees returning to the office. The report noted that more than half of the company’s workforce was hired after March 2020, and physical interactions with senior colleagues and leaders are vital for new employees to acculturate and learn from their behaviors and ways of thinking.

The absence of these interactions, especially during the pandemic, had a negative impact on employee engagement and acculturation, leading TCS to gradually reintroduce in-office work during the year.

It’s worth noting that TCS allocates a significant portion of its revenue to meet its wage bill. In FY23, the company spent approximately 56.6 percent of its revenue on employee benefit expenses. With a workforce of over 600,000 people as of March 2023, TCS is the largest private employer in India, and this policy change will affect a considerable number of employees who will now need to commute to the office.

Previously, during the first wave of the pandemic in May 2020, TCS’s then-CEO Rajesh Gopinathan introduced the “25×25 model,” which aimed to bring back 25 percent of the workforce to the office by the year 2025.

—

#TCS #HybridWorking #OfficePolicy #EmployeeReturn #WorkplaceChanges #IndianIT #EmployeeEngagement #TCSWorkforce #ITIndustry #OfficeCulture #IndianBusiness #EmployeeBenefitExpenses #WorkplaceTrends #CorporateNews