New Delhi: The number of companies switching to work from office mode is on the rise. Six in ten companies are in 100% work from office (WFO) mode this year compared to four in ten in 2023, according to Page Group Talent Trends report 2024.
“There has been a significant increase in employers insisting on working from the office from 43% to close to 65%. This is due to employers’ effort to improve the cultural integration, retention and productivity of employees,” Ankit Agarwala, managing director, Michael Page India, told ET.
Flexibility remains a top priority, according to the report, with 87% of employees preferring hybrid work models and companies adapting to flexibility at work seeing better retention rates. The report further highlights that one in three firms are struggling to retain talent.
“From an employees’ perspective, most are not in favour of this, but do not have choice in this regard given a tight job market,” he said.
Already, most tech companies like TCS, Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro, have made it mandatory for employees to come to the office daily or at least thrice in a week. For about two years, most organisations were in the hybrid mode or working 100% remotely post 2020 when the pandemic struck.
Page Group Talent trends report surveyed 3,000 senior executives in India across 2,100 companies. Most of these companies surveyed are in the healthcare and life sciences; consumer, FMCG/FMCD, retail, technology (product and services) and financial services sectors, and they are moving to work from office mode.
According to the report, 47% employees in India reported workplace discrimination, which is significantly higher than other countries such as Japan, Australia, SE Asia.
“Surprisingly, age discrimination, and not gender discrimination ranks as the topmost type of discrimination reported with 40% employees mentioning that they feel this in the workplace,” said Agarwala.
Specifically, it is much more difficult for employees in their 50s in India to find new roles within their organisations or with new organisations, much higher than in other markets, he said.
Page Source : Economic Times
