Q1. Is remote working beneficial?

Pros
1. On one hand the employee enjoys a better work life balance due to flexible working,
lesser stress, and can save living costs of metro cities. Simultaneously, the company
can manage a larger pool of talent over cloud while everyone working without
boundaries. The company saves cost in terms of travel reimbursements, lease spaces
and other operational costs.
2. Talking about the customers, they can maintain continuous operations even in
unprecedented times like the pandemic making their business model more resilient
and robust.
3. In terms of the society at large, there is a reduce in the carbon emissions as lesser
people travel to work. Large savings are made in electricity bills.

Cons
1. Long term remote working gets frustrating for some employees due to low social
interactions. There are also diminished lines between work and home life.
2. Newer employees in need of guidance and mentorship find it difficult to interact in
virtual medium also while not being able to experience the core company culture.
3. Customers are concerned about the security and regulatory issues that may arise due
to people working from home or remote completely.
4. Companies find it harder to get client approvals for remote working employees
especially in sectors like BFSI, pharma, etc. due to the sensitive nature of information.

After comprehending the pros and cons of remote working, we can see that complete
remote working could also be harmful despite the pros it has. Therefore, a hybrid model as
designed by TCS (25-25-25 model) would prove to be beneficial provided that the model is
accepted by the clients and customers.

Q2. Can blended model work?

Certainly, the sector in which the industry is matters a lot before thinking of blended model.
TCS being consulting firm can accommodate with the blended model

1. Data Security
Being one of the most important criteria of blended model, TCS had already done
investments in agile working which became an aided advantage at time of setting secure
borderline workplace.
2. Government Laws and Regulation
The uncertain time had even made Government realised the shift in working culture.
Currently government has granted waivers. But as we move forward most of the companies
are planning to shift to blended model as it saves a lot of overhead cost, government needs
to and will revise the norms as per the demand and industry standards.
3. Operational Flow
Blended model will help employees to visit the client which will remove the hesitation of
sharing information but at the same will give benefit to work from varied location if one on
one meeting is not important or the client is old being comfortable with the idea of remote
working.

With current scenario it is better to keep the operations flexible because there is no way of
knowing how the pandemic will play out. The blended approach ensures that important
work that can only be done in the office is completed while preserving the necessary social
distance.

4. Client Approval
TCS had already proved in this pandemic that will ensure to keep the lights on during crises
and will be always there for their clients. TCS supported these clients by bringing a limited
number of staff to office which proves that blended model will help both parties.

Any form of solo work that requires space, time, and concentration can be done from home
without interruption, whereas work that requires cooperation and ideation can be done in
the workplace, increasing employee productivity while also encouraging peace and
interaction among employees.

The major problem with the blended model is People

5. The visibility of work, deadlines and people’s availability.
6. The blurred lines between work and home are the major issue.
7. Building a new hybrid or remote culture for your employees, where they feel valued and
heard, is a challenge for today's firms – Especially the new recruits who have not lived
and inherited with the culture
The only solution for this is to focus on people, Managers to focus on employee needs and
employee to focus on client needs. Putting them in the heart of the operations is the key
with a right amount of autonomy to take decisions and not wait for long mail trails.

Q3. Is remote working in-sync with the labour regulations in India?

1. They started connecting with the local governments and industrial body to make
overnight changes
2. Employees working remotely outside SEZs had different regulations, benefits and tax
breaks that could not be applied to their location. Indian government granted waivers
to allow work from home, provided they were connected by VPN and VDI
3. To combat the threat of national security from data breach, telecom regulators
allowed TCS employees to operate remotely in voice work as long as TCS was able to
provide a proper list of employees working in that space so that calls could be traced.

Q4. How can TCS pitch this new model to clients once the pandemic eased?

Talent Pool not geographically limited

Under this new model, TCS can use the Talent on the Cloud concept connecting employees
with relevant skills anywhere in the world. This would eliminate the problem of providing
VISAs to employees by the clients.

Data security
Since employees would work 75% of their time at remote locations, TCS ensured that they
met client requirements of data security.
1. They introduced several levels of authentication and differentiated access
according to the needs.
2. The assets provided to employees was strictly restricted to official use and they
were prevented from using it for personal use. The assets could be remotely
controlled by TCS with or without user's knowledge.
3. Associates were trained to recognise security breach since remote working
increased vulnerability to hackers.

Travel time for employees

A major chunk of employees usually commutes 3-4 hours a day to and from the office. This
travel time is reduced significantly. This would reduce the cost to the company in case of
company bearing the travel cost and to client in case the client reimburses travel costs.

Flexible time
Employees could maintain a better work life balance through this new model, because of
which the restriction of traditional 9-5 would be eliminated. This would make the employees
better available for the clients and increase their productivity as they can be available when
the need arises.

Missing Data Points In case

We were not given information of verticals, because it’s hard to predict that blended model
will be suitable for all verticals

Variable factors – Due to many reasons’ companies see variable factors which affect
demand (geographical reasons, seasonality, technology change) which needs to be pointed
out while talking about blended model.