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Anjali Prayag

Corporate campuses now offer rest and recreation facilities such as gyms, swimming pools, multiplexes, etc in addition to cafeterias, as part of employee welfare measures.

Once inside Electronics City, located on the fringes of Bangalore, one almost tends to forget the harrowing drive to the destination. Glass and granite buildings appear stark against lush green golf courses, reminding you that it's not `all work and no play' here. It's not impossible to find a lone jogger warming up to a hectic day with a half-hour sprint. Or, a bunch of techies de-stressing at the yoga centres, or a gaggle of them enjoying exotic food at one of the restaurants, or maybe even getting a haircut at the hair dressing saloon located on the campus.

While Wipro and Infosys, with campuses in Electronics City, played a lead role in ushering in `employee welfare measures' in new-age companies, others followed suit. Today, most corporate campuses offer rest and recreation facilities such as a gymnasium, swimming pool, tennis, basketball and volleyball courts, in addition to cafeterias offering international cuisine.

Needless to say, employees welcome access to these facilities because getting a club membership in a city like Bangalore is an expensive and time-consuming process. At Wipro, more than 400 employees have enrolled for the fitness and yoga programme. Hari Hegde, General Manager - Operations, Wipro Technologies, says that an equal number uses the sports and other facilities.

Infosys' recreation facilities are run by an employee welfare trust; on offer are gymnasiums, swimming pools, aerobics, yoga and meditation centres, billiards and snooker pools, shuttle, volleyball, basketball, tennis, table tennis and squash. Some of the larger campuses also boast of cricket and football grounds. The Mysore campus will soon have a bowling alley, a multiplex and an auditorium with seating for 1,300. The multiplex will have three theatres, with 150 seats each.

Mohandas Pai, CFO and Head - Finance and Administration, Infosys, says the number of employees using these facilities has increased over the years; about 20-25 per cent of employees use them fairly regularly. It also helps that the average age in most IT companies is 25-26 years, when fitness awareness is at its peak. But increasingly, senior employees are also getting inducted into a health regimen and use the health club and other recreation facilities. Hegde says about 80 per cent of the users are in the 24-30 age group, and 35 per cent are women.

In many companies, activities such as TGIF (Thank God It's Friday), offsite trips, family days, cultural programmes, chill-out evening parties and theme days (like ethnic days) have become a regular feature. Some companies even have `fun officers' to make the work atmosphere more relaxed.

TESCO - HSC, the Bangalore-based shared services arm of TESCO, UK, has a gardening club, movie club, book club and theatre club. These are run by employees who organise different activities. The cafeteria is another area that has kept pace with the changing food preferences of the workforce.

Wiproiites have the choice of eating at a US Pizza, Pizza Corner or a Café Coffee Day outlet or at the company cafeteria that offers regional Indian food alongside Chinese and Continental fare. Similarly, Infosys employees can partake a variety of Indian and global cuisine at the food court's self-service counters. Though prices are not subsidised, they are reasonable.

Realising that time is a constraint for the IT employee who is housed in a remote location for most part of the day, companies also offer shopping options within campuses. Infosys employees can shop for grocery at a department store, or buy clothes from any of the branded stores inside the campus. The company also sells Infosys branded accessories such as T-shirts, bags, etc, on the campus.

Medical centres and ATMs have, of course, become the norm and are seen on almost all the campuses in the city. Late-night deadlines and teleconferences are not new to the industry. "If employees choose to stay over at the campus, hostels and dormitories with good facilities are available," says Pai of Infosys.

But are these goodies increasingly tying employees to the `office environment' rather than allowing them to move towards a work-life balance? Pai's response: "This is just a lifestyle availability. It's not mandatory to use the facilities. People have the right to not use them if they do not want to."

Picture by G.R.N. Somashekar

Location courtesy: Wipro Technologies, Bangalore

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