Indian techies want to shift from Chennai to Kochi, Delhi to Jaipur and Mumbai to Surat

• The rising cost of living is making employees want to shift to tier 2 or 3 cities, as per a new report.
• The remote working culture shifted a large chunk of the employee base to their home locations.
• The report also predicts that around 50% of the employees would want to return to their workplaces by September this year.

Rising cost of living in cities is making 80% of the Indian tech workforce choose hybrid working models that offer remote working options. In fact, 65% of them want to shift to tier 2 or tier 3 cities, according to a report by Nasscom and Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The survey which shows that a lion’s share of people still prefer remote working options, also says that this option helps inflation-affected Indians save more.

The cost of living in Surat is 50% lower than Mumbai, while in Jaipur it is 35% lower than the national capital city. Similarly, the cost of living in Kochi is 30% lower than the cost of living in Chennai, says the report titled Shaping the Future of Work in India's Tech Industry.

During the pandemic, a large chunk of the employee base shifted to their hometowns. It also shows that a significant proportion of workforce come from these tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

“Companies are also expanding their offices to tier 2 and 3 cities, based on the available talent pool and growing industry presence in these cities,” the report says. This can help companies offer hybrid working models.

Even in the hybrid model, not all employees are expected back to offices. Organizations are redesigning offices to accommodate this new working model.

Employees are seeking flexible work models

As people work from home, they are also seeking a little more relaxation. They want a flexible working model which allows them to sometime to relax or take a break in the middle of the day.

Parents and caregivers especially prefer a 5+3 work model instead of working for eight hours straight.

“With the transition to a new work model, organization structure is expected to undergo some changes to make the work more collaborative and engaging for employees,” says the report.

60% of employees want to go to office twice a week

Around 60% of the employees surveyed want to go to the office only twice a week and work the rest three days from home, while only 10% of the employees want to work fully remotely.

The report also predicts that around 50% of the employees would want to return to their workplaces by September this year. IT companies and offshore units are most likely to adopt a hybrid work model as compared to the rest.

"As we are on our way to normalcy, organizations should analyze the behaviour and choices of their employees and offer them the best of both offline and online working experiences. They should take a holistic approach and take into consideration the new working models and trends while designing the future of work structure,” said Debjani Ghosh, president of Nasscom.

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