Employees trickle back into changed office spaces as Covid-19 cases decline

When Panasonic initially re-started work from the office, after the long Covid-19 lockdown had been lifted last year, it divided the corporate office into three zones. Each zone was allocated to select employees across different business functions with defined walkways, dedicated elevators and facilities including washrooms, pantry and other amenities.

Now, as the outlook appears more optimistic with the Covid-19 spread abating and companies increasingly adopting a hybrid work model that requires employees to be in office for at least part of the work week, Panasonic has done away with zones and instead allocated dedicated desk space for each employee. It has also converted meeting rooms into workstations and installed fibreglass partitions to maintain social distancing when employees are seated. Coronaguard filters have also been installed for added employee safety.

A leading chip-maker, meanwhile, has redesigned entire office furniture and workstations ergonomically so that employees can share workspace without discomfort as a third of the workforce now operates from the office on any given day. Besides, many of the systems within the office have been made touch-free. These include washroom faucets, water cooler operations and coffee vending machines.

As India Inc gets back to office, employers are tweaking work spaces and using innovative solutions to tackle new concepts.

One of the biggest conundrums before employers has been how to go about offering employees their meals. This is especially tough for those companies that have been providing meal coupons as part of employee compensation. One solution is allowing employees to use coupons even when they do not work out of office every day. Anish Sarkar, CEO of Sodexo BRS India, which works in the digital employee benefits space, says during work-from-home (WFH), Sodexo has worked with its clients to open usage of cafeteria benefits beyond employer campuses. This has ensured that employees who do not work from the office also continue to have access to meals during their workday.

For its employees who are now back in office, Uber India has started providing sanitised meal packets and beverages. A leading newspaper is calling select employees back to work with cooked meals offered in the dining room, just like during pre-Covid times. But another IT major from Bengaluru, with office in a campus where several other IT firms are also co-located, has not opened the large, rooftop café till now. At engineering consultancy Egis India, the office café is working with restrictions and a select menu. To ensure Covid protocol, employees are offered flexibility through an extended lunch hour.

The pandemic saw high levels of attrition, especially in the IT sector. It also put disproportionate household and childcare burden on women employees, forcing many to quit jobs. Some companies are going out of the way to ensure women employees have child care and logistics support.

Covid-19 has also brought the spotlight on employee wellness. Not only have employers been offering paid Covid leaves for sick employees, many have devised innovative ways to deliver wellness benefits. Sarkar of Sodexo says his company has enabled clients to extend wellness and learning benefits to employees, regardless of their location of work. Under the Sodexo Multi-Benefit Pass solution, companies are extending Wi-Fi / broadband/ telecommunication/ data to support employee communication needs as they work from home. Furniture and IT assets are also being paid for through these passes. And for catering to the heightened need for employee recognition and motivation, Sodexo offers a ‘Premium Pass Celebrations’ solution. This includes a dining gift card that can be redeemed at restaurants and bakeries, both online and offline.

Suneel Wasan, director HR at Egis India, says they have allowed WFH and lesser working hours. “We have kept it open and on managers’ approval.”