Hybrid work catching on in India
More tech workers in India now enjoy flexi-work arrangements and higher salaries, but talent retention remains an issue in the subcontinent, study finds
The hybrid work model is catching on in India, with four in 10 tech workers having the flexibility and freedom to choose where and when they work, while over a third work from home all the time.
Those were some of the key findings from the latest Computer Weekly/TechTarget IT salary survey, which found that Indian tech employers and workers have been embracing hybrid work in the wake of the pandemic.
According to the study, which polled nearly 300 respondents in the subcontinent, just 16% work exclusively in the office and just 8% work in a job where working hours are fixed.
In a separate survey by India’s National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), about 72% of organisations revealed that they are looking at having up to 50% of their workforce in the office as part of their hybrid work plans this year.
Led by IT services firms, those that have more than 1,000 employees are also more likely to adopt the hybrid work model (83%) compared with the tech industry average of 70%.
Sashi Kumar, head of sales for India at Indeed.com, said the pandemic has been a “crash course” in the pros and cons of remote work, driving companies and workers towards a hybrid model that will define the future of work.
Though empowered to work remotely, Kumar said employers and employees also understand that leaving behind the pandemic will necessitate new processes, approaches and mindsets to work. “It will necessitate a hybrid work paradigm that gives employees a space to collaborate and co-create, while empowering them with more bandwidth for their personal responsibilities,” said Kumar.
Read more about IT in India
- Organisations in India will need to invest more in cloud security, gain more visibility into their systems and improve security awareness among employees to fend off cyber attacks.
- StratMed’s Integer platform is facilitating data exchanges between healthcare providers and their suppliers to improve transparency in India’s healthcare supply chain.
- Mahindra Group will migrate SAP S/4 Hana and its data warehouse to Google Cloud and build up its DevOps capabilities.
- Covid-19 has accelerated adoption of telehealth services in India as more healthcare providers look to offer medical treatment and assistance without risking infections.
Meanwhile, IT salaries in India have increased across the board amid the shortage of tech talent. According to the salary survey, 63% of respondents had a pay raise and a further 26% received a bonus. Just 4% took a pay cut.
Across IT job functions, solution architects earned an average salary of $41,051 while developers earned an average of $20,231. Not surprisingly, those in senior IT management had the highest average salary of $59,530.
Despite higher salaries and the shift to hybrid work, Indian IT organisations may still find it hard to retain talent in an employee’s market. Some 40% of respondents are open to new opportunities even though they are not actively searching for a new job, while less than a third plan to stay in their current role.
When it comes to diversity in IT, Indian organisations appear to be doing better, with 65% addressing gender equality issues. Almost half of respondents also noted that women have the same opportunities as men in their companies.
