In an effort to distribute its workforce further, Zoho, a Chennai/US-based IT company, is in the process of opening at least ten hub offices in tier-2 and 3 towns with each having 500-1,000 people. Further, there would be satellite centres with 20-50 employees and attached to these hubs. The satellite centres will be located in villages and smaller towns like Tenkasi from where Zoho’s CEO Sridhar Vembu operates. He did not elaborate on the locations.

This hub-and-spoke model will have profound implications on where the jobs are; where the incomes are and the nature of demand. For example, smaller amounts will go to real estate, which is much cheaper, he said at the opening plenary session of the Conference “South India@75 - Journey from Traditional to New-Age Economy”, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Southern Region.

“The key goal for me would be not to look at small villages as back water, back office but for high-value jobs, crucial marketing jobs and intellectual output. It is not just work from home. A lot of intellectual jobs can be done in small centres that can have 5-6 like-minded people coming together for a critical mass. The knowledge-intensive jobs can be located in the smaller towns and villages,” he said. The quality of life is a lot better in places like Tenkasi, he added.

The Tata Steel context

TV Narendran, President, CII, and CEO and Managing Director, Tata Steel Ltd, said that traditional companies like Tata Steel should look at technology as an opportunity and not a threat. As the company plans the transition, it should be business-led, not IT-led. There should be a business case for it, and should not be done just for the sake of doing it. In the Tata Steel context, the company should derive significant cost efficiencies or there should be changes in stakeholder experience. It could be employees, suppliers, customers or the community, he said.

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