After helping people work from home, Zoom will now also help people to do video conferencing in their offices, as physical attendance increases and restrictions reduce. Zoom has tied up with phone booth makers Room to make video conferencing pods for offices. The modular pods, titled “Room for Zoom” will have an adjustable desk, soundproof walls, lighting, and fans, with HD cameras and mics to be placed in offices for easy video conferencing.
After over a year and a half of “work-from-home”, Wipro has recalled its leadership to offices to start office work twice a week. They are all be fully vaccinated and will follow the proper social distancing guidelines, Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji said. The move comes as the Indian and Global tech industry is shifting from a full work-from-home model to a hybrid work model, and attempt to bring back social connections among employees.
A survey by Tata Communications found that 45% of Chief Experience Officers feared employee burnout without the right tools and systems. Business leaders across 750 enterprises in 11 countries were surveyed. Findings showed that while 45% of companies lost productivity in the pandemic due to connectivity problems, only 41% maintained market share due to their digital-first model.
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Persistent Systems, after acquiring cloud migration firm Sureline Systems, is on the lookout for more acquisitions to add to the portfolio, said CEO Sandeep Kalra. Pune-based IT services provider has over Rs 26.8 cr of cash balance at the end of June quarter and will continue hiring at the same pace after bringing 1200 people on board during the last few quarters. The company allows WFH and plans to bring employees back to the office after they are fully vaccinated.
After Google’s announcement that all employees should be vaccinated before returning to work on-site, Facebook released a statement on similar lines. FB’s VP Lori Goler said that their work to prioritise return to office emphasizes its employee’s health and safety. A procedure will be developed for those who cannot be vaccinated due to medical and other reasons. The timelines for return to office have not been changed.
Apple is slowly transitioning towards a hybrid work model with the aim of having its employees come back to offices. The company has rejected a lot of WFH requests from its employees. Starting Sept Tim Cook wants employees to come to the office on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Apple’s internal survey said that more than 35% of employees are unhappy about the hybrid model. 10 employees said they will quit their jobs due to the same.
The Government of Telangana wants the IT/ITeS employees to return to offices by September but the companies are not ready for the change. The industry is worried about the attrition levels that are around 20% and the third wave. Currently, only 10% of employees are expected to work from the office. 40% of the 6-lakh+ tech employees of Telangana are working from home and are reluctant to return to the office.
Google has launched a platform that will enable its employees to calculate pay, benefits for remote work, and how this would change on moving to different cities. As Google has introduced hybrid workplaces, the new tool will allow workers to know their compensation based on location. Google has over 140,000 employees worldwide and expects 60% of them to meet a few times a week, 20% will be shifting to new locations while 20% will be WFH.
Social media giant Facebook has announced that it plans to open all its offices in the USA by October along with flexible work-related options for employees. They also said all offices may be functional at 50% capacity by September, and by June 15 remote work as an option across all staff levels will be opened. Some of the EMEA and APAC offices have already opened. Facebook will keep track of its LATAM offices.
