Need of the hour: Explore work from home option for future application

The recent lockdown because of the coronavirus scare has affected the productivity of many employees across the globe. The employers — private corporations and the government — have now switched to alternative options. These include reduced number of working hours and enabling work from home. The move to encourage working from home is welcome at a time when the pandemic is on the rise and threatens public health and safety.

The work from home option should be explored not only during such a crisis but even after it subsides. If regular commute by employees is taken out of the picture, it may help in combating air pollution and beating traffic chaos. People-friendly policies should now be framed to impose work from home wherever feasible, especially in the IT sector, and even in government offices. Most of the government departments now rely on internet and computers rather than paperwork. An online approval mechanism or a dashboard-tracking system can be created for government offices to track the productivity and quality when employees work  from home. By experimenting with such a model, governments can help improve the productivity of their employees, as also reduce the burden on traffic and environment. This will reduce carbon emission levels, and we can achieve work-life balance in an effective manner. Varun Dambal  Bengaluru

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