Is 'Work from Home' Making Lives Easier? US Sees Benefit & Tharoor Wants India to 'Seize the Opportunity' | An Explainer

Over the last two years, corporate work culture has seen a major overhaul as the coronavirus pandemic hit the world in 2020. Almost all companies resorted to remote work and “work from home” (WFH), which is still the norm as the Omicron variant induced another wave of infections. Encouraged by governments, major corporations and tech companies allowed a huge percentage of their employees to work from home to ensure social distancing guidelines and avoid spread of Covid-19.

While there are undeniable comforts in WFH such as avoiding long commutes, and allowing people from places other than tier 1 cities to join the workforce, the blurring of personal and professional lives is seen as a stark problem across industries.

Mohit Gupta, who works at an IT firm, told PTI, “While this has ruined work-life balance, I’m thankful since it has kept me and my family safe.” Agreeing with Microsoft’s 2021 Work Trend Index which says that high productivity is masking an exhausted workforce, he said, “I had so much work today that I couldn’t even take a bath. Office hours have stretched so much that I’m occupied from 9 am till around 11 pm due to which I’m unable to give time to my family.”

Where do Employers, Companies Stand with WFH?

With flexibility becoming an important aspect of the work culture, employers that don’t offer the option will see increased turnover as employees move to roles that offer a value proposition that better aligns with their desires, a Harvard Business Review report said.

Employers have clear benefits to remote working – lower costs, long hours put in by employees, improved retention, and even easier recruitment. Remote companies have lower business costs because they save money not only in office space rent but also on office furniture, equipment, supplies, housekeeping, and more.

Congress MP Sashi Tharoor said on Twitter, “W/ the pandemic &WorkFromHome, Western companies have realised how much white-collar work can be done more cheaply abroad than remotely in the US. Sales of “accent-stripping” software to turn Indian accents into American in real time are booming. India must seize the opportunity!”

US-based multi-national companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, Slack are not alone in encouraging remote working. Indian companies also joined the bandwagon of allowing WFH. For instance, Tata Steel’s work from home policy called the ‘Agile Working Model’ allows employees to opt for WFH for up to 365 days a year. Furthermore, even the officers who were required to be based out of a particular location can choose to WFH for an unlimited number of days per year, a MoneyControl report said.

WFH Culture’s Disproportionate Burden on Women

For Payal, a teacher at a government school, managing household chores and handling her two-year-old daughter alongside taking online classes gets extremely tedious. Saying that working from home is very difficult for a married woman, she shared, “There is a lot of household work in the mornings and that is when I have to take online classes as well. Sometimes I take e-webinar sessions while working in the kitchen.”

A recent report by Pink Ladder, an organisation focussing on career growth for female professionals, said four out of 10 working women in India were facing anxiety and stress issues linked to the work-from-home situation. The study, Economic Times reported, also came up with disturbing data on how women were becoming victims of the “double burden syndrome”, as they juggled between their personal and professional commitments, even as about half of them lacked motivation.

President Ram Nath Kovind also acknowledged this fact by saying work from home during the Covid pandemic has its benefits but it has also put working women under a “triple burden”. In a letter to young Indians published in the Manorama Yearbook 2022, he says women already have the double burden of paid work and “unpaid work”, that is, domestic responsibilities.

Further, incidents of digital sexual harassment also cropped up in the virtual workplace – sending lewd text and voice messages, sharing inappropriate personal pictures, wearing inappropriate clothes (or not) during video calls are some of the instances that could amount to harassment, as per an Indian Express report.

WFH’s Effect on Economy

Work from home has had significant and unavoidable economic consequences. For starters, low-skilled and semi-skilled jobs around large service companies and office complexes were lost. “Most large offices have canteens run by a contractor. Some companies offer pick-up and drop facilities to their employees. This is how service companies create low-skilled and semi-skilled jobs. Around many large office complexes, there are vendors selling tea, coffee and food. Further, drivers of app-hailed cabs and yellow-top taxis have seen their business go down,” writes author Vivek Kaul in LiveMint. Almost a third of the Indian economy that comes from the unorganized sector suffered major losses with the onset of WFH.

Travel economy has also taken a hit with the Wall Street Journal reporting that an estimated 2 trillion dollars in corporate travel would not happen this year, in the United States of America.

In terms of consumer spending, accounting firm PwC’s June 2021 Global Consumer Insights Pulse Survey reported a strong shift to online shopping as people were first confined by lockdowns, and then many continued to work from home. Other trends in this shift towards digital consumption include online shoppers being keen to find the best price, choosing healthier options and being eco-friendlier by shopping locally where possible. With consumers shopping from their sofas and home offices, another trend flagged up by McKinsey is a marked decline in brand loyalty.

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