Pune: As many as 59 per cent employers are not in favour of remote working in the new normal and 7 in 10 say they will not continue it once a solution to the pandemic is in place, according to employment website for job listings Indeed.

The survey also stated that 3 out of 4 employers highlight no decline in employee productivity due to remote working. Surveying employees and employers across 12 cities in India, India’s Job Market: The Pandemic & White-Collar Migration report by Indeed focuses on the trend of reverse migration as economic recovery accelerates. Key findings include:

REVERSE MIGRATION IS A PASSING TREND

Indian companies appear less willing than their global counterparts to support remote work post-pandemic. 59 per cent employers are not in favour of remote working in the new normal. 67 per cent large and 70 per cent mid-size Indian firms as opposed to their global counterparts are not in favour of a post-pandemic, remote working set-up.

Even digitally agile startups indicated they will revert to an in-office model post the pandemic with 90 per cent saying they would not like to continue remote working once a solution for the pandemic was in place.

REVERSE MIGRATION IS TEMPORARY

46 per cent employees also said reverse migration is temporary and 50 per cent of employees said they were willing to shift back to metro from their native place if the job demands it. They attributed a future return to aspects like availability of WFH options (29 per cent) and bringing the pandemic under control (24 per cent), with only 9 per cent saying they will stay on in their native places permanently. 1 in 2 employees say they are willing to shift back to a metro if their job demands it and only 32 per cent are willing to take any form of pay cut even if it means finding a job in their native place.

The willingness to take a pay cut in order to work from their hometowns decreases with hierarchy – 88 per cent senior-level employees say they were unwilling to take a pay cut and 50 per cent say they would shift back to a metro if their job demands it.

Of the findings, Sashi Kumar, Managing Director, Indeed India said, “Job postings on Indeed are a real time indicator of labour market activity in India. We’ve noticed an interesting trend where “remote” and “WFH” job searches were up 437 per cent in March 2021 from the same period last year, a reflection of rapidly evolving work modes."

He added, "Remote work has served as an equalizer, pushing companies to reimagine and reorganize their work models, encouraging workers to adapt to new concepts of flexibility and productivity. However, in an emerging market like ours where culture outweighs convenience and problem solving is far more effective when people come together, it will be interesting to watch how this plays out as we progress towards our recovery.”

The survey was conducted by ValueVox during December (2020) and January (2021) on behalf of Indeed among 1,200 employees and 600 employers.