POST COVID-19 WORK STRATEGIES AND IMPLICATIONS: INSIGHT ON INDIAN IT SECTOR

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the work strategies adopted by leading
Indian IT companies post COVID-19 and their institutional and individual level
implications. Following the exploratory sequential mixed-method approach, in
the first phase, the data were collected from 8 leading IT companies in India
to understand the work strategies implemented post COVID -19 to ensure
employees’ safety without disrupting client deliverables. In the second phase,
the primary qualitative interviews were conducted and selected IT companies'
financial statements with a systematic analysis of financial indicators were used
to gauge the impact of new work strategies. The study reveals the selected IT
companies were embracing Work-From-Home or Work-From-Anywhere as
their work strategies by ensuring little to no disruption, were armed with a host
of technology tools that allowed employees' swathes to new work-norm within
hours. The study findings manifold implications of the new work-norm are that
it has no negative impact on the companies' client deliverables and profitability.
The paper confirms that the remote-working approach has resulted in reduced
carbon footprint, work-life balance, and de-urbanization while identifying
the flip side of this approach as the negative impact on team cohesiveness and
employee emotional wellbeing. This research confirms the critical lesson learned
from COVID-19 is agile companies must plan for a range of incomprehensible
contingencies to ensure business continuity and growth. The research findings
contribute towards understanding the Indian IT sector experiences in adopting
the remote-work strategies and taken as lessons that can be useful for other
global IT sectors.