India Inc & COVID-19: Is 100% remote work the future?

The Coronavirus pandemic has invariably caused everyone to be in their own homes. While security and health take priority, companies and people alike needed to cope financially and be encouraged work-from-home. A culture of understanding, flexibility, and mechanisms to ensure it has been brought about as a necessity. For many, it has been a boon. People are enjoying flexible timings, and that is ensuring unparalleled productivity in businesses. 

In the United States, David Soloman, CEO, Goldman Sachs, suggests that this work culture is not welcome as new recruits don’t get a taste of what Wall Street is about, and “corrections” to this remote working will be made. 

On the contrary, the face of Facebook, Mark Zukerberg suggests that remote working has opened up possibilities that were not thought of before; the offices have taken on a pool of talent that will continue their work, no matter the changes in the world scenario in terms of remote work. 

A study has even predicted an increase in the economic growth of the United States by 5%, considering the time and money saved. 

While the States remains divided, its workforce reports that 22% of the employees are able to work three to five days a week without affecting productivity, while in contrast, Indians could only account for 5% of the same estimate. 

So, for India, does 100% remote work seem like the predictable future?  Gaurav Singh, CEO and founder of Verloop, has explained some key pointers about the matter. 

An India That Knows The Power of Remote

Gaurav explains that in a Post-Covid India, he fully expects that there will be born new businesses that are fully remote. Considering that many decisions that required travel, for instance, international travel to Dubai, can happen over a zoom call, startups can save expenses and time on travel and do so in the comfort of their own space. 

Fortunate, But Not Remote

Although Gaurav acknowledges that the power of the remote has been realized in a Post-Covid World, he suggests that businesses cannot fully go remote; it has become part of it as a contingency plan. This, of course, implies that in a world, especially in India, where people are still grappling with coronavirus, its effects, and its various long-term effects, the option to work remotely would be a checkbox that will become an inevitable given. He also shares that he does not see the Fortune 500 companies sitting remotely, without offices and infrastructure. 

Remote, But Not Too Much 

Singh acknowledges the benefits of remort work. He explains that he, as much as the next person, enjoys the flexibility to follow his own routines amidst the pandemic while working remotely, and there might be others who enjoy the same at all times. However, a personal touch, unique to Gaurav and maybe many, came in the form of the fact that humans, at the end of the day, are social beings. We might work for money or reach goals, but we do so for people, for organizations, for socialization, and for the larger good of the world. Therefore, Gaurav, and many others like him, would want to have offline spaces of work where they can see faces. There is only so much screen time one can deal with! 

What’s the Verdict?

Remote work is the future. Citing an example of people from the Information Technology industry, who are taking their desktops home, Singh explains things will become better from here on and beneficial. Company data is priceless, and thus, a step such as the one mentioned above will conclude in the creation of VPNs, i.e., Virtual Private Network, that is considerably more secure than the existing ones in the market, ensuring a safe channel of data transmission without external attacks. Moreover, he shares that a lot will change in terms of the Customer Support aspect of things. Before the pandemic, the professionals working in support of customers knew only to come into work, sign in, and work from their desktop. However, now they are learning it is possible to do it from anywhere possible. 

Even so, Gaurav Singh suggests that a post-covid India that is 100% remote is a faraway dream, and also one that is not shared by everyone. Of course, for many in the workforce who have adapted to a lifestyle of remote work, and would like to continue with the same, the pandemic has opened avenues for employees in India and abroad to make a choice. This choice is more inclusive and opens channels with companies that seemed like an exclusive place reserved for people who could work day jobs without any other constraints.