Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji has said that Remote work ‘spoiled’ the IT industry, and more employees should work from offices.
Wipro Chairman said on hiring and remote working during a conversation at the Nasscom Technology & Leadership Forum 2023.
Rishad Premji said, “You can’t build that connectedness and intimacy no matter how advanced technology gets. We are human beings.”
“I am a big believer that we should be coming back (to offices) in some shape and form,” Rishad Premji added.
“People should have the flexibility to work from home but people should also be coming into organisations,” he said.
Rishad Premji Hiring Advice
He also advised the company should emphasize in building a culture in an organisation is a destination, not a journey.
“I was telling a board member that whenever I hire a candidate, I try to look for commonality, something familiar if I can bond with this person post-work over a drink. That was before the conversation with this said board member”, he added.
He added, “The board member told him he was doing it wrong.”
“He said that board member told him I should instead be looking for a candidate that can challenge my ideas, bring in new perspectives and that’s how we have made Wipro diverse now,” he further said.
Wipro Work from Office
An Indian multinational corporation, Wipro ended the complete work-from-home policy officially in October 2022. The company implemented a new working policy on October 10, 2022.
Wipro encourages employees to return to the office for some part of the week. Earlier, The company sent the below email to the employees:
“Starting October 10, Wipro’s offices in India will be open Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. We will not be open on Wednesdays. The company encouraged all employees to work from office at least three days of four days.”
“This will help us enjoy the camaraderie and team spirit of connecting in person while maintaining hybrid work flexibility,” Wipro noted in the mail.
Additionally, recently, Wipro rolled out a revised offer letter for recruits awaiting onboarding at the company for over 12 months. The company has reduced the employee’s salary by 50 percent from Rs 6.5 lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh per annum.
Wipro sacked 452 fresher employees due to poor performance. The union of IT employees Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) said that it ‘strongly condemns the unethical layoffs done by Wipro.’
The company’s net headcount has decreased by 435 employees during the December quarter. The company’s voluntary attrition moderated 180 bps from the previous quarter, which stood at 21.2% for the trailing twelve months for the quarter.
