Two Sides To Return To Office And Hybrid Model Of Work At Tech Giant Infosys

Tech giant, Infosys has prioritized safety and flexibility when it opted for hybrid work model three years ago, in wake of Covid-pandemic. The hybrid work mode has created significant shift, enabling Infosys to be more responsive to customer demands, more resilient to disruptions, and more productive, characterized by empathy and flexibility. However, there are two sides to coin, and Infosys expects the same. Infosys in its ESG (environmental, social, and governance) report highlights the pros and cons of the return to office and hybrid work mode.

Infosys adopted a multi-pronged approach to enable the transformational hybrid work model under the three pillars of work, workspace and workforce.

The company facilitated remote-to-hybrid transition centrally as well as at the individual unit and Development Center (DC) levels. Transition was enabled at the geo level aligning to the regional norms and policies of individual countries where the company operates.

Keeping employees at the centre, Infosys has been leveraging this smooth transition in the following manner:

1. Phased approach: Using a phased approach we first encouraged employees to work from the office two days a week at DC locations in Phase 1 and are moving to a model in Phase 2 where employees come to the office 10 days a month with flexibility for units and managers to decide their modus operandi.

2. Employee Voice: In its RTO journey, the company made sure employee voice is key. At every stage in this journey, the company went back & polled its employees to refine our hybrid frameworks across locations.

3. Work from any office: Employees today have an option to work from any DC in India providing them flexibility through a distributed workforce with its five new hubs that provide more office options for employees to choose from.

4. Reiterative approach: One crucial element in our journey was to make it reiterative supported by employee voice & client needs.

5. Hoteling: . At Infosys, workspace hoteling has been enabled, that is, provision to book a space to work on the campus, for both individuals and teams.

6. Equality of experience: A right balance of high tech & high touch experience for its employees working from home, office, or client site. The company created equal touchpoints across the employee life cycle.

7. Engagement programs: Various segmented employee engagement programs in a Hybrid mode at the office campuses have been a driver in attracting employees to work from the office.

8. Physical Onboarding program for new joiners for better cultural assimilation.

However, Infosys in its ESG report said, "Our transition to a hybrid working model may expose us to various risks."

It highlighted that "Unplanned expenditures incurred to facilitate our hybrid working model, such as increased information security requirements, may adversely affect our profitability."

Furthermore, Infosys pointed out that "Our inability to integrate employees that we hire into our existing corporate culture due to our hybrid working model may adversely impact the results of our operations. We also hire and train fresh college graduates each year. If we are unable to timely and effectively train and deploy them on client projects, our utilization, client satisfaction and profitability could be adversely affected."

Infosys transitioned into a hybrid model of work for its employees and service providers in 2022, following an extended period of remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic and continued with the same.

Infosys said that the company various costs to enable this hybrid working model, including making sure its offices are safe and hygienic, converting certain workplaces to enable collaboration while some employees work from home, opening additional offices in tier 1 cities such as Kolkata and tier 2 cities such as Coimbatore in India, and to procure and deploy hardware assets, technology infrastructure, information security infrastructure and data connectivity charges for remote working.

Infosys believes that if they are not able to effectively train its employees in the hybrid working model due to a lack of physical training sessions and personal connects, it may impact its ability to deploy talent on projects to meet business requirements which could lead to service delivery disruptions, productivity loss, adverse client sentiments and additional costs.

Also, given the hybrid working model, there is a relatively higher potential for confidential data being exposed. Additionally, the hybrid model also increases the risk of claims arising out of various situations like errors and omissions and data breaches, which could render the coverage taken inadequate. Increased claims could cause the insurance premium on our regular policies to be increased which could adversely affect our profitability.

Nonetheless, Infosys is focusing on enhancing its competitiveness even in the current paradigm of hybrid working. In FY24, the company recorded large deals of $17.7 billion which will demonstrate its r capabilities and competitiveness in executing complex transformation programs.

The company is also investing in the development of new facilities, including in Tier 2 cities across India, to enable its hybrid working model, which may also increase our facility's cost.

As of March 31, 2024, Infosys has employed 317,240 employees, of which 299,814 are professionals involved in service delivery to clients, including trainees.