An Indian billionaire says it’s time to pack up and move from India’s large cities and permanently work from home

• Nithin Kamath of Zerodha believes that the answer to many of the country’s problems lies in moving away from the larger cities.
• Zerodha is already in the process of transitioning as many employees as possible to permanent work from home.
• The COVID-19 pandemic made ‘work from home’ the new normal as thousands of employees moved back to their hometowns fleeing the bigger cities, which first came under the COVID-19 crisis.

Nithin Kamath, founder and chief executive officer of India’s largest stockbroking platform Zerodha, believes that the answer to many of the country’s problems lies in moving away from the larger cities.

Kamath wrote on social media platform Twitter, “Large cities are choking and will continue to break down every time we're tested, COVID today, could be water shortages, pollution, floods, etc. Moving to smaller towns & villages will also create livelihoods there & reduce carbon footprint.”


Zerodha, Kamath wrote, is already in the process of transitioning as many employees, as possible, to permanent work from home (WFH). “We are also now hiring for permanent WFH positions for our Customer support team & soon for other teams as well. I'm hoping that other businesses who can, will also move whatever jobs possible to permanent WFH and nudge their teams to make this transition,” he added.

Kamath isn’t the only one with the belief that it’s possible to turn to India’s smaller cities. Another billionaire, Zoho’s founder Sridhar Vembu, has been an advocate for the same for a long time. Vembu has long moved to Mathalamparai, a small village in Tamil Nadu, and runs Zoho from there.

The COVID-19 pandemic made ‘work from home’ the new normal as thousands of employees moved back to their hometowns fleeing the bigger cities, which first came under the COVID-19 crisis.

After seeing the successful implementation of WFH, companies like food delivery app Zomato, accommodation player OYO, have already said that they are moving towards a working culture which includes permanent work from home.

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