InMobi's Tewari warns of rising cases, offers staff help in audio message

With Covid cases rising alarmingly, companies are attempting to reach out to employees for the support they may need in the hour of crisis. Naveen Tewari, founder and CEO, InMobi Group which consists of InMobi & Glance, urged employees to remain indoors and reach to him for any kind of support.

In an audio message to the leadership team, he said: “For the last 14 months or so of the Covid breakout, this probably is the worst that I have seen. The number of cases and deaths of people whom I have known have been 7-8 in the last 24 hours. Some of them I couldn’t save, and equal numbers are still searching for hospital beds. We do not have any systemic solution for this. The only way to deal with this is for you and your team members and family to stay in. Nothing is more important than saving yourselves. Our system cannot take cases, there is no capacity.”

He added that the (country's) health infrastructure is in dire state. Despite thousands of new beds being set up, there is a chronic shortage. Medicines and oxygen are not available.  

Tewari also reached out to anyone who might need any help of any kind. “I am more than happy to help anybody at any point of time in the company, or in their extended family or friends if they need help. Please reach out, do not hesitate, you will not be able to activate things by yourselves,” he said.

The firm had plans to continue work-from-home till July, but with now Covid cases surging, it may extend the facility, said a company source.

According to media reports, InMobi is all set for its public market debut in the US. The company has been valued at $16 billion.

Last December, as the world was getting ready to bid adieu to 2020, Bengaluru-headquartered technology major InMobi Group announced what it called “Gratitude Week” as a mark of gratitude to the services rendered by its employees amid all the challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic. As a part of that, the company offered an entire week-off to each and every employee in the last week of December encouraging them to have some fun time with their families. The company also gave them a special year-end bonus, above their regular bonus, encouraging them to spend whichever way they may want to.

Starting April last year, InMobi Group engaged with globally renowned psychotherapists and psychologists who organized a series of curated webinars and corporate programs for its employees in India as well as abroad.

Additionally, the company launched something called “InMobi Confidant Program” as a part of which employees were encouraged to reach out to some of the selected folks in the company to speak to them and confide their professional, personal or any other challenges, and receive advice/guidance.

Besides this, senior leaders have upped the communication with the employees, through blogposts and internal communication channels, sharing their experiences of coping with the situations that have arisen from the pandemic and also encouraging the employees to take time off from their busy schedules for personal requirements and well-being.

India on Sunday reported a net increase of 121,576 in active coronavirus cases, the most ever in a day, to take its count to 1,801,316. India’s share of global active coronavirus cases now stands at 9.86 per cent (one in 11). The country is second among the most affected countries by active cases. On Sunday, it added 261,500 cases, the most in a day yet, to take its total caseload to 14,788,109. And, with 1,501 new fatalities, its Covid-19 death toll reached 177,150, or 1.20 per cent of total confirmed infections.