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Mr Laxman K. Badiga, Chief Information Officer, Wipro.

T.E. Raja Simhan

Chennai, Sept. 1 The work-from-home culture is spreading so fast at Wipro Technologies Ltd that the software major expects that nearly a third of its employees will in future be working from their residences.

Employees having trouble travelling long distances and those with health problems are allowed to work from home, according to a company official. Till a few months ago, less than a 100 employees worked from home. Now, nearly 1,100 employees are working from home in Bangalore and about a 100 in Chennai.

The number is growing every quarter, according to Wipro’s Chief Information Officer, Mr Laxman K. Badiga. “It is all about employee convenience,” he said.

“There is no time frame to achieve the 30 per cent. It is tough, but feasible. We have begun the thought process and have the concurrence of the board and management. Once the trend starts, it is only a matter of time to catch up,” he said.

If 30 per cent of employees can work from home, it means a saving of 30 per cent on office space, power and water. “I can also release 30 per cent of server space,” he said.

Allowing home-based work is a still a challenge. First, the mindset has to change for the person working from home and the boss at office, with better coordination between the two. Second, customers need to be convinced about the model. There are also issues on salary structure, he said.

At present, there is a secured virtual private network. People working in service functions like administration, accounting and HR are allowed to work from home. But, employees on customer projects cannot work from home. “We need to get permission from clients before allowing home-based work,” he said.

“There are still security-related concerns, especially on last-mile connectivity. We also need to create the right policy and mechanism. We have a policy, but it is in bits and pieces. The right technology should alienate customers’ concern on security with regard to their projects,” Mr Badiga said.

Cognizant Technology Solutions has also has put in place a work-from-home concept that could change the way a fifth of its employees live and work two years from now. The company’s Vice Chairman, Mr Lakshmi Narayanan, recently told Business Line that it would like to see 20 per cent of its employees work from home over the next two years.

More Stories on : Human Resources | Work Life | Wipro Ltd

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