TCS abandons hybrid work, mandates full office attendance from October 1

TCS WFH Ends: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's largest IT company, is discontinuing its hybrid working policy. As per a report by CNBC-TV18, an internal communication was circulated earlier this month wherein the company has mandated that all employees must return to the office for five days a week, starting from October 1, 2023. Currently, employees are required to be in the office for only three days a week.

TCS Statement on WFH Ends

The official communication states, "As communicated by the CEO and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) in various town hall meetings, it is now mandatory for all associates to be present in the office on all working days (5 days per week if there are no holidays) starting October 1, 2023."

TCS FY2023 Annual Report

In its FY23 annual report, TCS emphasized the importance of employees returning to the office. The report noted that more than half of the company's workforce was hired after March 2020, and these newer employees benefit significantly from physical interactions with senior colleagues and leaders to assimilate and learn from their behavior and ways of thinking. 

It's worth noting that TCS allocates more than half of its revenue to cover employee benefits. In FY23, the company dedicated as much as 56.6 percent of its revenue to employee benefit expenses. TCS is the largest private employer in India, with a workforce of over six lakh (600,000) employees as of March 2023. Consequently, this change in policy may have a significant impact on a large number of employees who will now need to commute to the office.

Previously, in May 2020 during the first wave of the pandemic, TCS's then-CEO, Rajesh Gopinathan, introduced the "25x25 model," with the goal of bringing back 25 percent of the workforce to the office by the year 2025.