IT companies double down on work from office rules amid AI disruption

Experts say a slow growth environment and shorter project life cycles in the age of artificial intelligence (AI) have made these firms double down on office presence and being closer to their clients

Leading information-technology (IT) companies are slowly but steadily tightening work-from-office rules, marking a clear shift back to pre-pandemic modes of operation amid artificial intelligence (AI)-led disruption and global uncertainty. A slowing growth environment and shorter project life cycles in the age of AI, experts say, are prompting firms to double down on physical office presence and proximity to clients. 

The latest move comes from Wipro, which has mandated that employees spend at least six hours in the office on days they attend. Wipro employees are already required to come in three days a week, and the revised policy adds a penalty: Half a day’s leave will be deducted if the mandatory hours are not clocked. 

Earlier, in 2024, Tata Consultancy Services scrapped its work-from-home policy, making daily office attendance compulsory and linking quarterly variable pay to physical presence. Infosys, meanwhile, asked employees above job level 5 last year to mandatorily work from the office for at least 10 days a month. 

At HCLTech, the approach has been relatively less rigid. While employees have returned to office, there is no blanket mandate on attendance hours. Staff in the E4 category are required to come in once a week, while those in E5 and above must attend the office for three days a week, but without any prescribed minimum duration of stay.

 

“Most IT services companies are asking their employees to be in the office and they are tracking it in terms of the number of hours they spend there,” said Neeti Sharma, chief executive of TeamLease Digital. “Governance has become a key aspect… In many cases, people were swiping in and out at very short intervals.” 

The gradual manner in which these rules have been rolled out is hardly surprising. During and immediately after the pandemic, IT companies were vocal champions of remote working, emphasising how collaboration could be achieved seamlessly despite teams operating from home. 

That narrative began to fade as normalcy returned and companies realised that collaboration and efficiency were falling short of expectations. The shift gained urgency as the emergence of generative AI changed the business landscape and the global economy entered a prolonged phase of uncertainty, triggered by the war in Ukraine, high inflation, supply-chain disruptions and tariff-related pressures over the past year, experts said. 

“When organisations are navigating frequent change and require high levels of agility, driving alignment and behavioural change within existing teams is often easier in a shared physical environment,” Aditya Narayan Mishra, chief executive and managing director of CIEL HR. “Organisations today are operating under sustained pressure on margins and productivity, and are therefore experimenting with multiple interventions to improve efficiency and outcomes. Increasing physical office presence is one such lever.”

 

While American banks moved to enforce a full return to office some time ago, technology companies have taken a more cautious route. Even so, they are now treading a similar path. Microsoft, for instance, is rolling out a new policy requiring employees to work from the office at least three days a week, starting next month.

 

Cognizant has also begun training select executives on ProHance, a workforce management tool that tracks how long employees remain active on their systems and monitors the applications and websites they use during work hours.

 

“With remote working, collaboration and teamwork went out of the window,” Sharma added. “With business pressure, companies are bound to ask questions about deliverables within a given timeframe, and to push for improved efficiency and productivity.”