Just like workers across the world working remotely during the pandemic, some in Pune say they got more time, while others point to the hazards of WFH.
Pune-based IT professional Mayank Sharma had started enjoying his new office, which was just a 10-minute walk from his home, when the coronavirus-induced lockdown was imposed five years ago. Amid the lockdown, Sharma had to organise the house so that he and his wife could work from home — he took the drawing room and his wife their bedroom.
Through the years of the pandemic, Sharma became a part of the workers worldwide who were making the transition to remote working, overcoming initial technical glitches, and perfecting the system to work efficiently.
“During COVID, many organisations, that were not open to WFH (work from home) before, had to adapt. They figured out that work could also be done from home. You don’t necessarily have to be in the office to make sure that everything is done. You don’t necessarily need to meet people every day to make sure that things are getting completed on time,” he says.
After the pandemic ended, remote working has made way for a hybrid work culture as well as a return to office. Some organisations, such as Sharma’s, have allowed employees to continue working from home.
“The pandemic also helped companies realise that WFH reduces costs. My current company had a very big office in Mumbai that they had rented. Since COVID hit, they gave the team members benefits, such as an allowance to purchase a table, a chair and a monitor, among others, to work from home. They could let go of their office space in Mumbai,” he adds.
He says he and his team members do not need to travel to the office because most of their work is done on calls. While there is one more member of his team in Pune, the rest are based in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, among others.
The Bengaluru team has a WhatsApp group where they connect, and meet up a few times every week in the office. When Sharma travelled to Bengaluru, the city team was there and he was even invited to their homes.“Other than that, the everyday interaction with colleagues is missing. Every couple of months, we tend to get together and meet our other teammates who work in other geographies,” he says.
On the positive side, Sharma says he doesn’t have to travel to office, and avoids being stuck in traffic that makes a one-way commute to the IT hub of Hinjewadi stretch to almost an hour. “The way people drive their cars and ride two-wheelers in Pune nowadays, I don’t like driving anymore. It’s become really erratic,” he says.
Flexibility but no downtime
Atul, another IT professional, says he was allowed to work from home once in a while even before the pandemic. “Ninety-five per cent of the time we worked from the office, and a day or two we could work from home. It would be a real pleasure if we could work from home,” he says.
When the pandemic began and they were forced to work from home, “it was slightly difficult getting used to”. While they didn’t have a routine, had to keep their laptops open throughout the day, and take multiple calls, he says nobody was watching over his shoulder.
As he continues to work from home, Atul says, “Earlier, there were hours in a day when you would not be connected to the grid, such as while driving. Today, WFH means that you are on the system all the time. When you are working with people across the globe, from multiple time zones, some people expect you to be available all the time. You have to draw the line somewhere saying that no I’m not going to work after this point,” he says.
As the infrastructure has improved, Atul has become used to working from home. “I would rather go to the office just for a chance to catch up with some folks. I am used to this lifestyle now,” he says.
He says the work-from-home option has given him more flexibility, and opened the possibility of more travel. “You could be a digital nomad who can travel to any part of the country or the world as long as there is a good internet connection for you to log into the system and work,” he says, adding that, from a company standpoint, they are savings on electricity and rent.
“As long as you’re getting the work done, I don’t think there is an issue with where one works. At this point, a lot of people are comfortable with WFH. Unless you’re in a service industry, where the client requires you to be in the office, a person can choose where they want to work,” he says.
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