Kunal Shah feels Gen-Z losing out on the value of learning due to WFH, Zoho CEO agrees

As some offices slowly reopen, while others cautiously stick to remote working, conversations about the pros and cons of both are picking up. While employees have come to cherish the flexibility WFH provided over the last (almost) two years, they are learning that not everything can be an email or video call.

The spontaneity of impromptu ideas seems almost impossible over pre-planned agenda meetings, and soft skills too are being missed.

Cred founder Kunal Shah recently took to Twitter to mull over the opportunity cost of missing out on in-person experiences at the office.


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The 42-year-old said that while "young folks in India are happy working from their native home & saving cost of rent and getting home food" there is a cost to this short term benefit.

"Learning being around smarter folks & absorption by osmosis and overhearing has reduced to zero," Shah added.


Sridhar Vembu, CEO of the cloud software suite and SaaS applications firm Zoho, agreed with Shah, and said that the company was opening its offices in rural areas.

"I still believe we need offices for the same reasons that @kunalb11 mentions. There is a lot of informal leaning that happens in a team that is difficult to capture online," Vembu added.


Companies are faced with the dilemma of switching to a hybrid model or continue WFH as more people get vaccinated, but the Delta variant continues to rage.