Wipro asks employees to work from office thrice a week as Covid curbs eased

Wipro, India’s fourth-largest IT services company, will require all its employees worldwide to work from the office at least three times a week from this month, according to a company-wide email seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

Companies have rolled back or adapted their ‘remote working’ policies as restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic have been lifted, including better communication and collaboration between employees.

Last week, Infosys, India’s No. 2 exporter of software services, asked some employees to return to the office 10 days a month, while market leader TCS asked employees to return to the office five days a week.

Wipro has been encouraging employees to work from the office three times a week since May and about 55% of its workforce currently works from the office at that frequency, a company spokesperson said. Wipro had 244,707 employees as of September 30.

The Bengaluru-based company confirmed that the mandate will come into effect on November 15, which was first reported by local media.

From January 7 next year, consistent defaulters could face consequences, according to the November 6 email. The email did not provide details of the punitive measures and Wipro’s spokesperson did not comment when asked.

“As a global organization, we will continue to adjust in-country adoption based on local laws and agreements,” the email said. It says that in some European countries it may be necessary to consult with employee representations.