Covid-19 impact: Oyo adopts 'hybrid workplace model' for Indian employees

Oyo Hotels & Homes on Tuesday said that the hospitality firm had adopted a ‘hybrid workplace model’ that involved a combination of work from home, or from co-working spaces, for the foreseeable future.

The company said it had divided its Indian workforce into three categories—corporate employees, capability functions and field staff. The corporate employees and capability functions would be opting for a combination of work from home and working from flexible co-working spaces solutions, according to Dinesh Ramamurthi, the company's chief human resources officer. The company's field staff has already been stepping out and attending office following all the health and safety protocols. "With the changes in the working environment, the current situation is a testament that employee efficiency is greater than the actual physical presence," he added. The company declined to give the exact number of employees it has in India, but it is estimated to be around 8,000.

The hybrid model allows more flexibility to workers, which in return has resulted in a noticeable improvement in overall productivity, the company said the press statement.

“The co-working industry is seeing more companies opting for availability of flexible office solutions and co-working models to reduce long term blockage of capital in leases and furniture," said Ritesh Malik, founder, Innov8, a co-working startup that Oyo acquired in March last year.

This comes at a time when the Softbank-backed startup terminated lease contracts of two of its offices in Gurugram last week in order to cut costs. Its headquarters in Udyog Vihar and Spaze Palazo office were vacated by invoking the ‘force majeure’ clause. In response to the development, the company earlier said it was reconsidering office space requirements and revisiting contracts with landlords, not just in Gurugram, but across the country, at mutually acceptable terms.

The Covid-19 pandemic and global lockdowns have made people rethink their travel plans. This has adversely affected the company's business model. Last month, Oyo decided to lay-off a large number of its employees in the US, while salary cuts of up to 25 per cent were imposed during the April to July period. In a unique move, Oyo also decided to make each of its employees a shareholder of the startup through a 'deep-discounted Employee Stock Ownership Plan'.