39% of India Inc. Employees Ready to Return to their Workplaces, Finds TimesJobs Survey

Around 39% of employees in the Indian formal sector are prepared to resume working from office premises amid unlock 5.0, found a TimesJobs survey. The survey titled, 'Back to Work After COVID', was conducted to understand the preparedness of both the employees and the employers. TimesJobs surveyed 1,268 employees and 863 HR managers working across different sectors.

Among the employers, nearly 51% of HR managers said that their firms could revoke the work from home policies soon. The rest 48% said that their firms could continue working remotely for some more time.

Here are the key takeaways from the 'Back to Work After COVID' survey:

• 23% organisations claimed that they are not yet prepared to resume their office even in unlock 5.0.
• 67% employers plan to provide cab facility to their employees for commuting to maintain social distancing
• 42% employers said that the future workplaces will have strict hygiene protocols as a standard mandate

"The TimesJobs survey findings indicate that organisations are all set to re-open their offices with an array of policy changes and a bunch of safety checks in place. While many employers are eager to get back to work to ensure the business continuity and manage employee productivity, it is certain that the work environment won't look the same as it was in the past. Companies will have to think how they wish to operate, innovate and compete while getting back to work", said Sanjay Goyal, Business Head, TimesJobs and TechGig.

Other significant findings of the survey are: 

Companies to limit personal contact to ensure employee safety

A majority (65%) of HR managers plan to limit person-to-person contact to ensure safety at their workplace. Nearly, 53% surveyed professionals stated that the focus on hygiene protocols will increase. Almost 50% respondents said that temperature checks will be a mandate at their workplace. 37% said that they will reduce working hours of employees to facilitate cleaning and fogging thereafter.  

No access to cafeteria, gym, and breakout zone

Infrastructure-wise, around 89% of companies plan to implement changes such as placing workstations apart, installation of barriers between two workstations. Almost 69% of them plan to discontinue cafeteria services along with blocking specific areas such as gym, common space, breakout zone, etc.

Touch points such as doorknobs to get replaced by hands-free devices

Nearly, 55% of respondents stated that they will be installing sanitizers at close distances to maintain hygiene at workplace. Next, 59% of them revealed that they plan to replace the touch points (i.e. door knobs, attendance touch points etc) with hands free devices along with changing the surface materials regularly. 

Contact tracing and thermal imaging system to detect infected employees

As per 40% of HR managers, their firms plan to implement contact tracing to detect a COVID-19 infected person. As many as 36% of individuals said that they will initiate regular temperature checks of employees. While, 24% of participants said that their company will facilitate installation of thermal imaging system.

Organisations to take strict disciplinary actions to reinforce new workplace practices

A majority (48%) of the respondents said they will sensitise and educate their workforce about the new workplace conducts. Next, 27% of them revealed that they plan to take strict disciplinary actions against the employees who fail to adhere to the new protocols.

About TimesJobs:

TimesJobs is India's leading career portal, with a sharp focus on helping companies and businesses connect with competent professionals. With over 25 million registered job seekers across the board and more than 60 million page views every month, it is the most preferred career portal among the ambitious professionals who want to make smarter career decisions and accelerate their career progression.

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27% of Indian Cos Created Virtual Offices for Work Communication and Employee Engagement: Survey

• 23% of respondents said that their firms had been investing in various office collaboration tools to work remotely, another 20% of respondents revealed that their companies had now started to implement digital tools to work virtually


• Nearly, 63% of HR managers affirmed that their companies would continue working virtually even when the COVID-19 lockdown is lifted


• Despite data security issues, 34% of HR managers said that they use Zoom for office communication, as compared to the other available apps

Most (27%) Indian companies have created virtual offices to ensure seamless work communication and employee engagement, reveals the latest survey conducted by TimesJobs. The survey – conducted among 1,345+ HR managers & decision-makers from diverse industries – aimed to find how the Indian companies were dealing with the ‘en-masse virtual working’, triggered by the COVID-19 lockdown. 

The TimesJobs survey concluded that most (27%) Indian companies had readily created dedicated virtual offices for their employees. The next set of 23% of HR managers said that their firms had been investing in various office collaboration tools to ensure a seamless experience for employees. Another group of 20% of respondents revealed that their companies were now implementing digital tools & platforms for their workforce. 



“The TimesJobs survey findings indicate that most (27%) Indian companies were ready with their virtual offices, and about 20% were investing in different tools to aid virtual working. Also, 20% of other companies were now considering such tools and technologies. This is a big disruption at corporate India because traditionally India Inc. hasn’t been so keen about the ‘virtual working’ culture. For years, TimesJobs has been saying that ‘virtual working’ will be the ‘next big thing’ at workplaces, and the COVID-19 lockdown and the mass digital adoption has just proved our point. I won’t be surprised if many offices will now consider moving some roles to remote working permanently,” said Sanjay Goyal, Business Head, TimesJobs and TechGig. 

TimesJobs survey findings also threw light on how different companies were managing remote working during the COVID-19 lockdown, and the response of the employees henceforth. The major takeaways of the survey are – 

  Virtual working is here to stay, even after the lockdown: 

• 63% of HR managers claimed that their organisations would continue to work virtually even when the COVID-19 lockdown is lifted


• Among the remaining 37% of firms, most HR managers (about 44%) said that they will call only 30-40% workforce to office premises in the first run.

HR managers saddled with employee queries: 

• Most (74%) HR managers were presently loaded with employees’ queries related to job security and salary cut


• Next 13% of HR managers revealed that amid the current lockdown, employees' queries related to workplace policies doubled up 

Managing productivity and employee well-being: Two top challenges for HR managers presently 

• Around 25% of HR managers said that managing workforce productivity – amid the COVID-19 lockdown - was a primary challenge presently


• Whereas, 23% of survey respondents said that ‘ensuring seamless work experience for employees’ as their biggest roadblock presently 


• Next, 19% of respondents stated that enabling mental and financial well-being of employees was the biggest challenge for them amid the COVID-19 lockdown

Dependency on digital tools amplified: 

• Around 37% of HR managers said that their dependency on digital tools and technologies have increased due to work-from-home mandate


• As many as 28% of respondents asserted that implementation of new technologies such as virtual reach out-groups, video calling etc have transformed the conventional idea of working cohesively

TimesJobs is a platform to help competent professionals enhance their career growth. With over 25 million registered jobseekers across the board and more than 60 million page views every month, it is the most preferred career portal among ambitious and talented professionals who want to make smarter career decisions that accelerate their career progression.