Middle East tensions: Firms return to WFH, travel curbs as Iran targets UAE

BENGALURU: With the West Asia crisis escalating and recent Iranian strikes targeting the UAE, several IT companies and global capability centres (GCCs) have activated their business continuity plans (BCPs), introducing measures such as work-from-home, travel advisories and temporary office closures.

Amid rising geopolitical uncertainty, many tech firms and GCCs are increasingly relying on India as a stable hub for global operations. Many are running mirror command centres from India to ensure operational continuity during disruptions.




TCS, which has over 9,000 employees across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, has asked its staffers to work remotely. The company has activated a call tree, with associates in impacted and neighbouring regions being contacted on priority. A call tree is a structured chain-based communication method used to quickly relay alerts or critical updates to teams. "We are also coordinating closely with local authorities and the Indian embassies to track developments and will continue to provide timely updates as the situation evolves," the company told TOI.

Infosys has introducing tighter travel restrictions The company said only critical travel will be permitted for now, with group meetings, events, offsites and conferences currently restricted.

Wipro, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered have asked their employees to work from home, among others.

Vikram Ahuja, co-founder of ANSR, said organisations that were in the middle of setting up or expanding GCCs in the region have paused non-essential travel and executive visits as a precaution. "If the situation persists, we could actually see an acceleration of GCC ramp-ups in India as a stable anchor," he said.

Cognizant advises BYOF

After Infosys, Cognizant has encouraged employees to adopt BYOF (Bring Your Own Food) wherever feasible, to reduce reliance on office cafeterias while it monitors the evolving situation linked to the West Asia crisis. Cognizant has pre-identified alternate food vendors that do not rely on commercial LPG. The company said the current situation does not indicate an immediate disruption but could evolve into a prolonged period of operational pressure. Transport services are another area being closely monitored. Email to employees noted a "moderate risk of service strain" in commute operations due to fuel cost escalation impacting cab and shuttle vendors.

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