Tech industry one of the most spoilt in the mode of work: Rishad Premji

Indian IT companies are facing challenges in re-establishing the work-from-office model of pre-pandemic times

Tech industry is one of the most spoilt industries in terms of the working model, Rishad Premji, chairman of Wipro, said here on Wednesday.

He also urged employees to start coming back to office for better workplace relationships.

Speaking at NASSCOM’s Technology and Leadership Forum 2023, Premji said remote working could be implemented for the first time three years ago, because people knew each other before shifting to virtual.

The IT services industry has added an enormous number of people with high attrition in the past few years. Therefore, about 60 per cent of the workforce is new. 

“The tech industry is one of the most spoilt industries in terms of the model of how we work. We are the only industry that is working so uniquely. The future of work is hybrid, which means people should have the flexibility to work from home but people should also be coming into organisations,” he said.

According to Premji, the hybrid model was helping companies to access new talent. 

According to him, 100 per cent of work from home was problematic in adequately measuring productivity. It will also cause issues for an individual’s mental health and culture, he felt. Indian IT companies are facing challenges in re-establishing the work-from-office model from pre-pandemic times. Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), in October 2022, had asked its employees to return to office at least three days a week. Infosys has announced a three-phased plan to bring employees back to offices.

HCLTech, too, has been “encouraging” employees to return to the office at least thrice a week. 

“You can’t build that kind of connectedness and intimacy (in remote work). I am a big believer that we should be coming back in some shape and form and connecting with the intimacy that is irreplaceable with technology,” Premji said. 

He was discussing new leadership imperatives on inclusion, culture, and innovation with Amit Chandra, managing director of Bain Capital, India. 

“The days of authoritarian leaders are more and more diminishing. The space for authentic, empathetic and vulnerable leadership where (a leader can say) ‘I need help, I don't know’, is very much becoming pervasive. I found that leaders, who were able to empathise and connect with people during Covid were very powerful,” he said.