‘Welcome back’ signages greet Wipro leaders – Times of India

BENGALURU: It was a reunion of sorts for some of the Wipro leadership team who returned to the office on Monday, after 20 months of remote work.
The leaders were greeted with welcome back signages.
Saurabh Govil, chief human resources officer (CHRO) in Wipro, told TOI, “Today marked the first step in over 20 months of remote working to recreate a more connected workplace where colleagues — both old and new, many of whom we have not met in person — get to meet each other, ideate and collaborate in person, all in a safe and socially-distanced environment. These interactions will help reinforce our sense of purpose and are crucial to building and sustaining our culture. This phased approach will lay the foundation for the eventual return to office of larger teams as and when conditions permit.”
TOI had reported on Monday that the leaders would be coming on Mondays and Thursdays. Senior leaders include delivery heads, function heads, GMs, VPs and above.

Other companies are closely monitoring the Covid situation to understand how and when to get employees back into office.

Ira Gupta, head of HR at Microsoft India, said, “We continue to track developments relating to the pandemic and adapt our plans as the situation evolves. We have shared guidelines internally to create clarity and enable flexibility for our employees as they plan their transition to the workplace. Our endeavour is to evolve the way we work over time with intention—guided by employee input, data, and our commitment to support individual workstyles and business needs, while living our culture which is grounded in growth mindset and inclusion for all.”
Gupta said at this point, employees may choose to work onsite, while the company continues to encourage work from home.
“All our facilities, subject to government regulation, are open with the highest standards of safety and hygiene measures. We are committed to supporting our employees in working wherever they feel most comfortable and are able to do their best work,” she said.
Capgemini CEO Aiman Ezzat told TOI recently that the company would want to bring more people to the office.
“It’s about vaccination and a host of other things. We have defined globally a flexible work policy. It will be live now in the UK; we are rolling it out country by country. We have trained managers to work with employees sitting at home. Things are still evolving, and we are not yet in the new normal,” he said.
DXC’s India spokesperson said its employees will not return to the office until at least the beginning of the new calendar year and the company will decide based on the prevailing situation.
“Globally, DXC is well on its way to becoming a largely distributed, remote workforce, and enabling our colleagues to work virtually and flexibly,” the spokesperson said.
Cisco has called out a hybrid workplace for every employee.
“Whether that means you work five days a week at home and gather with your team for activities and connection every once in a while, or you are in the office five days a week leveraging the collaborative office configuration and technology to connect to your colleagues around the world—every Cisco employee will be hybrid,” wrote Francine Katsoudas, EVP and chief people, policy & purpose officer in Cisco, in a blogpost in August.
She calls it the “great hybrid experiment.” Cisco in India has over 10,000 engineers, a sales organisation and a manufacturing set-up.