Like most tech companies, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) had suspended non-essential business travel to countries affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, it has also been keeping a close eye on employees with any travel history amid this outbreak.
According to one of its employees who had just returned from Norway via Dubai, she got regular calls from the HR department to review the status of her health. The employee was admittedly “highly impressed” as she was promptly sent a list of numbers to contact in case of emergencies, and was duly asked to declare her quarantine address.
TCS has been following a strict protocol to deal with employees who have travelled in the last few weeks. Like most tech companies in India, not only are they asked to quarantine themselves for 14 days, but they are also required to carry a fitness certificate to work after that.
Work From Home At TCS?
In a letter sent to the employees 4 days ago, the company’s CEO mentioned:
“We have enabled work from home for 40% of TCS associates using our Secure Borderless Workspaces (SBWS) infrastructure. Our teams are working on war footing to enable for the rest in conjunction with the client teams globally so that we can be prepared for any eventualities. Unforeseen scenarios, given the unprecedented global scale of the impact, are being dealt with expeditiously. I am very happy to see the speed, rigour and innovativeness with which our infrastructure, security, risk and compliance, and project teams have responded to the crisis. Over six different work scenarios covering a wide variety of use cases have been developed and tested and are getting rolled out across all project teams.“
The company employs around four lakh employees worldwide. The percentage of employees on work from home is much higher now.
The company has also been taking measures to prevent large gatherings within its campus. This includes temporarily pulling the plug on its canteen services, although limited stocks of dry food are still available. The company has also taken several steps to keep its surroundings sanitized.
Curbing Employee Travel
Travel restrictions and remote work are becoming commonplace at companies as coronavirus fears mount. Companies like Google, Microsoft, EY and Twitter have been imploring their employees to remain at home to reduce the risk of employees contracting the virus and inadvertently spreading it.
