Indian tech firms gear up to reopen offices with distancing measures

Bengaluru: Technology services providers have begun to put in place a slew of measures, including safe distancing between desks and in office vehicles, virtual meetings and video messages to employees to assure them of safety measures at workplaces, as they gear up to gradually work from offices.

Wipro opened its office in Kochi with necessary social distancing measures, while Capgemini looks to reopen offices across different states with about 10% staff, those required for critical projects. HCL Tech is stepping up sanitisation measures at its offices, while SAP is thinking of increasing its office transport fleet, flexible lunch timings to reduce crowding in common areas and other social distancing measures.

“We are working on a plan so that employees can come back to office in a phased manner. First phase will include those who are working on extremely critical projects or those who were unable to work from home due to client security guidelines,” said Venkat Neelakantan, VP and Head, Corporate Real Estate Services, India and APAC, Capgemini.

The French technology services company consulted with wellness partners Anviti, ISOS and Apollo to set guidelines so that employees can follow rules laid out by the government, he added.

Last week, Wipro chairman Rishad Premji invited simple ideas for social distancing from Twitterati as he elaborated that the company was preparing for the new reality — social distancing.

HCL Tech, said it had “increased cleaning and sterilisation processes… at all the facilities and all social distancing protocols are being duly followed with the employees on-premises.”