‘Indian professionals willing to take salary cuts to work from home permanently’

A majority of Indian professionals are keen on working from home on a permanent basis, according to a recent Mavericks India report titled ‘Covid-19 and Beyond: An Evolving Perspective’.

The report, based on responses from 720 individuals across the country, states that 54 per cent of Indian professionals love working from home.

Out of this, 34 per cent of professionals are willing to take a 10 per cent salary cut to work from home indefinitely.

“This is in direct correlation to the amount of time people spent commuting to and from work in the pre-Covid scenario,” the report said.

81 per cent of the respondents who used to spend over 90 minutes in one-way commute to the office would love to work from home permanently, as per the report.

Productivity levels

Furthermore, a majority of respondents (56 per cent) also felt that their productivity levels have increased significantly since they began working from home

“In fact, the cohort witnessing the most notable productivity increase appears to be the senior executives and CXOs,” the report said.

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Of this, 31 per cent claimed a productivity increase of 25 per cent or higher since pre-Covid times. 39 per cent of the CXO cohort stated that they would willingly take a 10 per cent salary cut to work from home permanently when compared to 18 per cent junior executives.

From a gender perspective, 56 per cent of the women like the current setup, especially Gen X women respondents, as per the report. 80 per cent of Gen X women “enjoy the flexibility of balancing work and home, while dedicating enough time for their hobbies instead of the tedious commute to and from work”.

Despite the willingness to continue working from home, overall, the fear of the pandemic has relatively subsided among professionals. Extreme fear was noted in 39 per cent of respondents in October when compared to 66 per cent in April. This decrease is more pronounced among millennials, as per the report.

There has also been a steady increase in people prioritising better hygiene and sanitation at all times, indoors and outdoors, as per the report.