‘Many employees not ready yet for full-time office’

Ahmedabad: The past one-and-a-half years have changed the way companies function and many employees don’t want to get back to the 9-to-5 work schedule yet. These were some of the key takeaways of discussions involving senior human resources (HR) leaders in a conclave organized on Saturday.

Vaibhav Kulkarni, a director of Ernst & Young, said that the concept of the brick and mortar office is slowly yielding way to the ‘work from anywhere’ culture.

“Majority of the companies today are working in the hybrid mode. Technology has facilitated the process by which performance and attendance can be monitored virtually,” Kulkarni said. “Some companies are also demarcating only a day or two for work at office when physical presence is required.”

Kulkarni added: “With Omicron scare still around, it’s unlikely that we will see full offices any time soon.”

The HR Leadership Conclave was organized by Shalby Hospitals in association with E&Y and PeopleStrong Technologies. It drew the HR heads of several companies of the city.

Babu Thomas, the CHRO of Shalby Hospitals, said that companies and employees —especially in the healthcare sector — needed each other more than ever. “Many tweaked rules, many introduced new concepts and incentives as a sign of appreciation for those who gave their all during the pandemic,” Thomas said. He said that employee well-being came into sharp focus.

“Many companies started helplines for employees to cope with mental health issues,” said Jitendra Nirwani from PeopleStrong Technologies. “In terms of trends, we saw many companies utilizing their in-house talent for emerging roles.”