Remote working translates to savings, better performance, states CII-FMS survey

The study is a first of its kind joint initiative and presents insights on benefits connected with work from home and challenges associated with it in the Indian context

Employees found that the continued work from home (WFH) option that was started during COVID-19 pandemic has enabled a significant reduction in their commute time and costs, gave flexibility to live in more affordable areas, reduced the pressure of high rental costs, and freed them to schedule work and rest according to personal needs, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), University of Delhi, said in a combined study titled ‘WFH in the Indian context’, released on Monday (November 18, 2024). 

However, the study maintained that remote working has led to difficulty in separating work and personal life, leading to increased employee stress as many employees lack dedicated, undisturbed workspaces at home. Furthermore, flexibility in scheduling can be considerably problematic for those unable to maintain self-discipline, noted the study.

The present study is a first of its kind joint initiative of CII and FMS and presents insights on benefits connected with WFH and challenges associated with it in the Indian context.

For the study 117 responses were received of which two were incomplete and hence excluded from the study, yielding a net sample of 115 respondents. The respondents represented companies operating in a variety of sectors including technology and IT, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and industrial, consulting, and professional services, among others.

In terms of annual turnover, 30.5% of companies which were part of the study had an annual turnover in the range of ₹1 lakh to 10 crores while nearly half (49.6%) had a turnover of more than ₹500 crore. By number of employees, 30.4% of companies reported having employees in the range of 1-100 while 53% had more than 1,000 employees.

Meanwhile, employers noted that remote working has led to substantial savings in office rental costs, meeting/working with clients and internal meeting costs, and enabled significant reduction in commuting stress for employees leading to greater energy levels and increased employee productivity.

On the other hand, it has also resulted in less effective communication being detrimental to teamwork.

“Remote working has led to a significant shift towards performance-based monitoring and increased reliance on trust has become greatly necessary to ensure employee performance,’’ the study noted.

Published - November 18, 2024 07:35 pm IST