Work from home culture has gained acceptance, says CEO of Kerala IT parks

The culture of WFH has gained acceptance in the IT sector and has a positive impact on society by including more new mothers, according to John M Thomas, the CEO of IT parks in Kerala.

The culture of work from home (WFH) has gained acceptance in the IT sector and has a positive impact on society by including more new mothers and the differently-abled in the workforce, according to John M Thomas, the CEO of IT parks in Kerala.

He said the companies would operate in a hybrid fashion and not shrink the workforce.

"The WFH has gained more acceptance and it is here to stay. This trend will have a net positive impact on the IT industry and society, including workforce expansion to include segments like new mothers, differently-abled etc., reduced traffic congestion in cities and a decentralised IT workforce that is not just clustered around major cities," Thomas said in a press release on Friday.

The industry is making a comeback and employees are gradually returning to their offices after spending more than 18 months on the work from home model.

With the easing of Covid-19 regulations, exemption of restrictions and complete vaccination of employees, firms across the State are planning to resume work from office by the beginning of next year, said the release.

It said majority of the IT companies would prefer a hybrid working model with a mix of employees working from home and office simultaneously.

The parks have maintained their efficiency quotient high even in the Covid times by adding many companies to their catalogue. InfoPark has welcomed more than 75 new businesses, the release said.

Techtaliya, Hexawhale, Invenics Software Services-India, Airpay, Cavalier, Mitsogo and Orthofx are some of the companies which have begun operations in various IT parks of the State. Along with these fully operational companies, several others such as Experion, Zellis HR-India and Inspired Software Development have expanded their workspace in the parks.

The Infopark-Kochi has launched app-based bike services on campus to have healthy travel around the park's extensive walkways.

Officials said the functioning of the parks would be based on the Covid regulations.

IT parks expect the return of the employees would help revive the local economy with the increase in demand for rented housing facilities and daily wage labourers.