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If you ever happen to visit Infosys’s Bengaluru office, you would find a computer outside CEO <keyword id="6369763" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vishal-Sikka">Vishal Sikka</keyword>'s office that is never switched off. The live web link there is on 24x7, so that employees can talk to their counterparts in Palo Alto whenever they want to. 
 
"The whole idea is to get Infosys employees to chat with each other whenever they want. No need to block calendars, no need to send emails. Cuts out the bureaucracy," an employee told ET. 
 
Cutting down the layers has been a major push with Infosys ever since Sikka has come in. To ease this further, India's second-largest software exporter is also working on a pilot project with 10,000 people, in which the traditional, five-layer organisational structure has been broken down into a two-tiered one, a welcome step from the Indian IT industry's conventional pyramid model. 
 
"Traditionally, we've had several layers within the organisation. We've had project managers and then there is a senior project manager, a group project manager, etc., and so on. So we want to flatten the five layers down to two," Sikka told ET. 
 
The new structure would have a project manager at the centre, who along with his own team would get support from functional teams like human esources, legal, finance and purchasing. 
 
"Basically, this acts as a small startup. Instead of a traditional top-down pyramid, we create a more bottom-up thing where you have thousands of small entities like that and the management is enabling these people to go out there and be innovative. This is underneath what Zero Distance is," Sikka further stated. "The reason why it's called Zero Distance is because you have zero distance to the client, zero distance to the value. Otherwise in big organisations, layers form over time, far away from clients," he added. 
 
Sikka is of the belief that this restructuring would make Infosys more entrepreneurial and livelier.

Infosys’ Vishal Sikka wants to be at ‘Zero Distance’ from his clients

Ahead of <keyword id="6354512" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword>’ annual shareholder meeting on Monday, the first non-founder chief executive officer, <keyword id="6369763" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Vishal-Sikka">Vishal Sikka</keyword> has highlighted some of the biggest achievements of the country’s second-largest software exporter during the past one year, in his blog. He also paid tribute to outgoing <keyword id="177384" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="non-executive-chairman">non-executive chairman</keyword> <keyword id="396965" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="KV-Kamath">KV Kamath</keyword>, according to an Economic Times report. Sikka spoke about some of the big bets Infosys has made, including what the company internally calls '<keyword id="2911637" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Zero-Distance">Zero Distance</keyword>'. He said the company started the Zero Distance initiative as part of an internal push to infuse innovation into each of the company's existing client projects. The company currently has about 23,000 projects with customers. Twelve months after being named as the CEO of Infosys, Sikka said in the internal company blog on Sunday: "I write this onboard a beautiful <keyword id="71561" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Lufthansa">Lufthansa</keyword> <keyword id="999178" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Boeing-747-8">Boeing 747-8</keyword>, the latest incarnation of the magnificent plane that was born around the same time I was, and has evolved through these decades in a timeless manner. It makes me even more proud that a brilliant team of Infoscions helped design many key parts and systems of this amazing machine." He further said the company had made a five-point template internally to improve the quality of each customer project. Infosys has even formed Zero Distance groups on <keyword id="726756" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Yammer">Yammer</keyword> and on the company's intranet Sparsh. 

	"Then we rolled this template out to a 1000 projects and their leadership, and a few weeks later, to all our projects....Projects covering more than 68k delivery colleagues at Infosys, that is more than 70% of our delivery strength, are participating and more than 500 client conversations relating to the improvements and innovations in their projects have already happened," he said.
 

	The Infosys CEO said the company had so far trained over 35,000 employees in design thinking, of which more than 21,000 have been trained from the delivery organisation. The company has also conducted over three dozen design thinking workshops till date.
 The company has rolled out its Infosys Information Platform (IIP) to more than 100 customer projects. It is the company's flagship big data analytics platform and the platform's development is being overseen by platforms head <keyword id="1187683" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Abdul-Razack">Abdul Razack</keyword>, a key Sikka lieutenant. "Under Abdul and Samson's leadership, our work in IAP is already resulting in substantial savings due to automation in the routine, mechanizable areas like parts of infrastructure management. And we now have more than 100 commercial IIP engagements, including many that have already produced breakthrough results. <keyword id="2728667" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Panaya">Panaya</keyword>'s adoption is underway, and is picking up steam. We've crossed 12 Panaya wins done by the Infosys CSG teams," Sikka said. 

	Meanwhile, Sikka paid tribute to Kamath and said new chairman R Seshasayee had "become a mentor" to him. "(KV Kamath) is an amazing man, a natural leader, a unique combination of spirituality and practicality, of great vision and dreams, and great execution and discipline. As happy as I am to see him lead this great new institution for humanity, I will really miss him," he said. 

	 
	(Image: Reuters)

Vishal Sikka talks about Infosys’ ups ahead of a crucial meet

The Indian Cellular and Electronics Association (<keyword id="6816005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="icea">ICEA</keyword>) has sought extension of the <keyword id="984226" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="zero-import-duty">zero import duty</keyword> on open cell television panels beyond September 2019. In a letter to Revenue Secretary <keyword id="9938032" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ajay-bushan-pandey">Ajay Bushan Pandey</keyword>, the ICEA said that the reduction of custom duty on open cell from 5 per cent to zero per cent till September 2020 has given a huge fillip to domestic manufacturing of <keyword id="428513" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="LED-televisions">LED televisions</keyword> and led to reduction in imports from ASEAN countries. It has sought an extension on the zero duty on open cell imports for three years. Citing the Ministry of Electronics and IT's recent proposal to to impose duty of 5 per cent on open cell panels and bring pure cell to zero per cent in a bid to encourage the process of polariser film and COF bonding for open cell, the industry body said that it is concerned about its implementation as the anomaly in differentiation of open cell with bonding and open cell without bonding -- pure cell -- still remains a challenge. The industry body, representing LG, <keyword id="874458" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Xiaomi">Xiaomi</keyword> and Micromax among others, warned of the growth of the grey market if the proposal is put into effect. "If the duty on open cell is not extended beyond September 2020, it will again lead to high imports of LED TVs under FTA, a huge blow to the Make in India programme of the Government of India. It will have an adverse impact on the Indian domestic manufacturers and the EMS companies," the letter by ICEA Chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/its-not-just-india-chinese-intelligence-has-its-eye-on-more-than-2-4-million-individuals-across-the-us-japan-canada-australia-and-the-uk/articleshow/78101034.cms">It's not just India — Chinese intelligence has its eye on more than 2.4 million individuals across the US, Japan, Canada, Australia, and the UK</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/defense/news/india-china-border-tension-will-be-in-focus-as-the-parliaments-monsoon-session-begins-today/articleshow/78098575.cms">India-China border tension will be in focus as the Parliament's Monsoon session begins today</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/all-eyes-on-parliaments-monsoon-session-the-banking-regulation-amendment-bill-2020-may-not-be-on-the-docket-for-long/articleshow/78101791.cms">All eyes on Parliament's Monsoon session — the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2020 may not be on the docket for long</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/hcl-tech-share-price-jumps-after-mid-quarter-guidance-pulling-tcs-infosys-wipro-and-tech-mahindra-in-the-green-along-with-it/articleshow/78103743.cms">HCL Tech's mid-quarter guidance optimism sparks rally in TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra too</a>

Xiaomi, LG and Micromax-backed lobby seeks extension of zero import duty on open cell TV panels

In a huge blow to <keyword id="6354512" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="infosys">Infosys</keyword>, <keyword id="6369763" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="vishal-sikka">Vishal Sikka</keyword> resigned as the MD and CEO of the company. Right now, U B Pravin Rao has been appointed as interim-managing director and chief executive. In his letter to employees, Sikka said he cannot carry out his job as CEO and continue to create value, while also constantly defending against unrelenting, baseless/malicious and increasingly personal attacks. In his letter, Sikka said the journey was difficult and he was proud of how the Infosys board worked, tirelessly, selflessly, these past quarters, despite intense, unfair, and often malicious and personal, criticism, in not only upholding the standards of governance and integrity, but also indeed raising these. Here’s Vishal Sikka's letter to the employees of Infosys: Dear Friends, After a lot of reflection, I have resigned from my position as your MD &amp; CEO effective today. A succession process has been initiated, with Pravin serving as interim MD &amp; CEO, and I will work closely with the Board and management team over the next few months to ensure a smooth transition. In addition, I have agreed to serve as Executive Vice Chairman on the Board to further ensure continuity until the new management is in place. For days, indeed weeks, this decision has weighed on me. I have wrestled the pros and cons, the issues and the counterbalancing arguments. But now, after much thought, and considering the environment of the last few quarters, I am clear in my decision. It is clear to me that despite our successes over the last three years, and the powerful seeds of innovation that we have sown, I cannot carry out my job as CEO and continue to create value, while also constantly defending against unrelenting, baseless/malicious and increasingly personal attacks. In 2014, we started with a very challenging set of conditions, and in the last three years, we have decisively turned things around. Three years ago, I started this journey with a calling, to help reshape the company around innovation and entrepreneurship, to deliver breakthrough value for clients, and to help elevate our work, our standing, our selves, on the basis of a dual strategy, bringing together dualities of renew and new, automation and innovation, people and software, to show a new path forward in a time of unprecedented disruption within the industry and beyond. That time, around and before June 2014, was a difficult time. Our growth rates were low and attrition was high. There was a sense of apprehension all around and I came here to help enable a great transformation as our core business faced intense pricing pressure, and clients looked increasingly to innovative partners to help shape their digital futures. Now, a bit more than three years later, I am happy to see the company doing better in every dimension I can think of. We have grown our revenues, from $2.13B in Q1FY15 to $2.65B this past Q1. We did so while keeping a strong focus on margins, closing this past quarter at 24.1% operating margin, beating some competitors for the first time in many years, and improving against most in our industry. Perhaps more importantly, our revenue per employee has grown for six quarters in a row. Our attrition has fallen, from 23.4% in Q1FY15 to 16.9% this past Q1, and high performer attrition is hovering at or below the single-digit threshold for a while now. We grew our $100M+ clients from 12 when I started, to 19, and increased our large deal wins from ~$1.9B in FY15 to ~$3.5B this past year. We've done all this while improving our overall utilization, to a 10-yr high this past quarter, and an all time high including trainees, while improving our cash reserves, rewarding employees with a new equity plan, and returning cash to our stakeholders. And we have done all this while improving our standing with clients to the highest ever in the 12 years since we've done our client satisfaction survey, and a jump of 22 points in CxO satisfaction. A few days ago, Nitesh, Radha, and I met a client in our office in Palo Alto. It is one of the largest companies in the world - and the CIO was excited and proud about seeing automation come to life in their landscape. Her reaction to seeing many of our innovation projects, as well as our workspace itself, was thoroughly rewarding, and a testament to all we have achieved. She requested us to bring our innovative work and processes to everything we do with her team in a similar space, and even that we help them establish a similar presence for their company in the valley! This is a sentiment I've often heard from clients who've visited our 12,000 sqft space here, that has seen 2200 visits over its ~27 months; clients where we saw much faster than average revenue growth following their visits. So, as I look back on the three years as CEO, what brings me the most joy is the new roads that all of you have traveled, the new frontiers that all of you have enabled. From embracing the new ideas in education, teaching ourselves Design Thinking like no one else ever has, learning AI, new development processes, and more, to applying these learnings via Zero Distance, a one-of-a-kind program of massive grassroots innovation, powered by education, by the amazing Zero Bench, and by your creative confidence. With 16500+ ideas generated, 2200+ of which have already been implemented, ZD is proof that innovation need not be the domain of a chosen few in some elite department, but is the prerogative of us all; proof that the extraordinary within each one of us can indeed be unleashed. To complement this grassroots innovation, we've launched 25+ new services that contributed 8.3% of our revenue last quarter, up from zero in April 2015. And our own new software business is now at 1.6% of revenue. Our AI platform, Nia, now with 160+ scenarios deployed at more than 70 clients, is helping drive both automation within the company, and breakthrough new business scenarios outside. Beyond new services and new software, we've ventured into new horizons, from our startup fund's investments in promising new businesses, to the work we've done in the last 3 years in local hiring around the world, especially in the US, to the exemplary and inspiring work our US foundation has done in bringing computer science education and a culture of making, to the masses. And I am proud of how we have upheld our values, our culture, our integrity, whilst we have gone about this massive transformation. I am proud of how our Board has worked, tirelessly, selflessly, these past quarters, despite intense, unfair, and often malicious and personal, criticism, in not only upholding our standards of governance and integrity, but also indeed raising these. None of our successes would be worthwhile for a moment, if this was not the case. I was, and remain, passionate about the massive transformation opportunity for this company and industry, but we all need to allow the company to move beyond the noise and distractions. Back in May 2014, when I first met many board colleagues, I thought of the road ahead as a road for the next 33 years of this iconic company. For Infosys is more than a company: it is an idea, a dream, a pioneering possibility. Back then I thought, just as I do today, that the time ahead called for a company that could show the way to a digital future, a future where our humanity, amplified by automation and software, would unleash our creativity, our imagination, to construct great worlds of our futures, and would do so powered by education, by our timeless value of learnability. Such an Infosys, whilst staying true to its core, to her values and timeless principles, would shine the light in an altogether different context, a different reality. Such an Infosys would be one where an individual's entrepreneurship, ability to imagine and create, ability to learn, and to amplify themselves with software, with AI, would create a greater whole. Rather than an overarching system enabling the people, the people's agility and imagination would create a greater system. Three years later, we can clearly see that the seeds of this idea have taken root and are growing, into beautiful new flowers and plants, and I see no reason why these cannot continue, and help shape our company's future. For sure this journey has been a difficult one. No one, especially me, thought it would be easy. Transformations are hard to begin with. A massive transformation, of such an iconic institution, with such groundbreaking achievements behind her, would be even tougher, and the exponential rates of change all around us, further amplified by geopolitical matters, would add that much more headwind. But all this was known, and clear, and in many ways added to the calling that I felt. For as the legendary architect Daniel Burnham said, "Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir man's blood., But after much contemplation I have decided to leave because the distractions, the very public noise around us, have created an untenable atmosphere. I deeply believe in creating value in an atmosphere of freedom, trust and empowerment. Life is too short to engage in battles of opinions in the public, these add no value, take critical time and focus away from the business, and indeed add more to the noise, to the eardrum buzz, as I wrote to you a few months ago. The founding principle of the strategy I laid out for our renewal was personal empowerment, working in an entrepreneurial environment. I need this for my own work as well. Steve Jobs, in his famous commencement speech at my alma mater, said: "Your time is limited, don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other opinions drown your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become., I now need to move forward, and return to an environment of respect, trust and empowerment, where I can take on new lofty challenges, as can each of you. As Steve Jobs said, I must follow my heart and my intuition, build my buildings, give my givings, and do something else. Over the next weeks and months, I look forward to working with the Board and management to create a smooth transition, and simultaneously staring into the great unknown, and to doing something great, something purposeful, for the times ahead. And also to spend some time with my loved ones. I've been away from home far too often and far too long. As I completed my three years recently, many people asked me if I have any regrets. This question is more apt today and the answer is a clear NO. Not for a second. However difficult the noise of the last several months has been, I wouldn't trade our time together for anything. I would not give up the experience of seeing the gleam in your eyes as you described a new idea, invention, or contribution. You worked on these confidently, without reward, without arrogance, showing exactly the kind of creative confidence that David Kelley talked about in Design Thinking - a wonderful thing to witness. I am deeply grateful for the immense support and love I've received from all of you, from our worthy clients for whom we do our life's work, and by our shareholders across the globe. I am grateful for your trust, confidence and friendship, and am thankful to our team of amazing leaders, who will help lead our company to greatness. To my first Infoscion colleague and trusted friend Ranga, who enabled us to achieve the things we achieved, to the amazing Ravi, a pocket of passion and energy and execution excellence, to the calm and steadfast Mohit, who introduced me to the band of brothers and lived it, day after day, to the larger than life Rajesh, with his great heart and big laugh, to Binod, a veritable bulldozer brother with his broad shoulders and broader smile, to the one of a kind Ramadas, the architect and protector of our magnificent campuses with his indomitable spirit and world-class excellence, to the always smiling Deepak who helped live the strategy, to Krish and the best HR team in the world, especially the extraordinary Richard, Nanju, Shruthi and their amazing team for helping to carry out some of the craziest and most amazing people initiatives, to Inderpreet, a new voice to the team, a voice of calm, strength, integrity and a stability that far belies the little time she's been with us, to Jayesh and our entire finance team for their dedication, their impeccable meticulous integrity and world-class excellence, and especially to my partner, friend, and pillar of strength, Pravin, who carried all the load in the world, with a smile, impeccable integrity and the most amazing grace, and will now lead you to the next phase of our company's growth. To Zaiba, Bala sir, Nagaraju, Hari and many others for making it possible for me to be me and to do my work, to my Palo Alto family: Sanjay, Abdul, Navin, Ritika, Barbara, Tao, Vinod, Shabana, April, Sudhir and others who have stood by me and have given up so much to be a part of this journey and contributed so much to it, and indeed to thousands of Infoscions who've made it all matter. I am thankful to Sesh and our entire board for their unfailing support and confidence in me throughout this journey. Together we have achieved a lot. Even in the midst of all of the distractions, even as the tendency was to return to the familiar, we still managed to persevere and make wonderful progress. We have laid the foundation for the next 30 years of Infosys, and I feel deeply proud to have worked alongside all of you in sowing the seeds that will return this company to the bellwether it once was. As you've all often reminded us, Infosys is no bigger and no smaller than any of us, the people, the Infoscions. You are the ones that will take Infosys to the next 30 years and beyond. As I think about the time ahead, for all of us, I can only see us powered by a freedom from the known, of renewing ourselves to thrive in the time ahead. Each one of you has vindicated my deeply held belief that people are capable of doing more, achieving more, being more, than they ever imagined possible. So, keep pushing yourself to do better at whatever you are good at, but also learning to do things you have never done before, indeed, nobody has ever done before. I know I will be doing the same. The Board, Pravin, and I will communicate additional details as we move forward in this transition, and meanwhile, we continue our work as is. I wish all of you the very best in your journeys ahead.

Vishal Sikka leaves Infosys citing malicious, baseless personal attacks. Read his full letter here

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=infosys&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Infosys</a> is facing a string of problems, first the governance issue between the founders and the board and then US <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=donald+trump&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">President Donald Trump</a>’s tightening H1-B visa norms. It has been a tough year for the IT conglomerate but <keyword id="2328412" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Infosys-CEO-Vishal-Sikka">Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka</keyword> is going strong. Even though he is tired and fatigued due to constant travel, Sikka is going strong to make <keyword id="6354512" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> at number one position. "The whole thing has become quite complicated," Sikka told <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-01/infosys-s-ceo-fights-off-fatigue-to-remake-indian-outsourcing">Bloomberg</a> in a recent interview. Asked about his haggard appearance, the 49-year-old said he didn't sleep the previous night because he was thinking about the changes overtaking the industry. Infosys took a different path and set out to build automated software and tools that would detect problems and solve them with less human intervention, freeing up consultants to provide more specialised and proactive services. "<keyword id="6369763" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vishal-Sikka">Vishal Sikka</keyword> is a great technologist and has all the right ideas. But he inherited a firm with a culture and history that doesn't lend itself to his vision," Ashutosh Sharma, who heads Forrester Research in India, told ET. Sikka has set inspirational goals and in a bid to achieve them, he is travelling and spending more time with clients and scouting out opportunities across the globe. Bloomberg reported Sikka took 99 commercial and 17 private flights in 2016, amounting to 800-plus flying hours. Sikka blamed his fading mirth on the constant travel. "The job travel wears you down but it is the only way to level with customers," he said. One of his initiatives is the Zero Distance program, which pushes employees to come up with ways to help solve customers' complex problems and needs. "We are approaching a time when any problem that can be mechanically articulated can be automated. I want us to become a company of 200,000 innovators where entrepreneurship, risk-taking and agility are ingrained in everyone," Sikka told Bloomberg. Sikka admits that he's running out of time to make all of this happen, even though his tenure was recently extended until 2021 despite the spat with the founders. "This will be the last year when we can be ahead of the curve in technology," Sikka said. "Next year, we will be abreast. Two years from now, it will be too late."

Over 800 flying hours is tiring Vishal Sikka but here’s how he is grappling with challenges and re-shaping IT sector

<keyword id="6354512" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword>, which is India's second-largest software exporter, is one step closer to rolling out its ambitious delayering exercise. Infosys COO Pravin Rao said that the tech giant may look at rolling out the delayering exercise across the company as early as the next financial year. 
 
"Our engineering services unit - that is where we've started the pilot.Once we're confident that it's moving in the right direction, then we'll do it at scale and extend it to the rest of the organisation," said Rao. "Sometime in the coming year, in FY17. The pilot has been underway for just a quarter and we'll probably look at one more quarter before extending it to the rest of the organisation." 
 
As told <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Infosys-Vishal-Sikka-wants-to-be-at-Zero-Distance-from-his-clients/articleshow/50624695.cms">earlier</a>, Infosys CEO <keyword id="6369763" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vishal-Sikka">Vishal Sikka</keyword> wants to be at ‘Zero Distance’ from his clients, which is why it’s working towards cutting down redundant organisational layers and working on a pilot project with 10,000 people. It has also broken down the traditional, five-layer organisational structure and made its structure a two-tiered one. 
 
Terming it "reverse pyramid", he had said, "In certain service lines, we are trying out a radical delayering... and create this reverse pyramid where the project managers and teams are in front working directly with customers and taking decisions." 
 
It is because of addition of thousands of employees over the past decade, that there are many layers of middle management, which in all these years have been under-utilised. 
 
"We've seen that people who are not getting billed, they also tend to get a little bit away from technology and so on. The best way to address that is to make them more active in project execution - that's the whole notion." 
 
Infosys is also opening up its Zero Bench marketplace, which would give employees on-the-bench experience on projects to its clients. 
"About 70 per cent of the people on the bench have at least worked on one project in the Zero Bench programme. Though it does not affect our utilisation rate as it is measured by analysts, we are working on more projects such as giving clients access to post their requirements on the marketplace," Sikka had said. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/photo/50992767.cms">Image source</a>

It’s a reverse pyramid for Infosys, as the tech giant gets ready for organisational delayering

The recent lay-offs at firms such as Wipro, Cognizant, Tech Mahindra, etc sent ripples across the IT sector. However, <keyword id="6354512" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> HR Head Krishnamurthy Shankar said the job cuts were blown out of proportion. Shankar said employees have to keep re-inventing and deliver high-quality performance rate. At Infosys, Shankar told ET, attrition is at 13.8 per cent and involuntary attrition, meaning those who are asked to leave for performance and value mismatches, is at 1.3 per cent. Infosys plans to hire 24, 000 employees in India, half of which will be freshers. Also, the company is encouraging managers to bring disruptions and changes in the work front. Infosys has come up with MaQ (manager quotient), which utilises crowdsourced feedback and analytics to personalise the learning journey. The programme uses data culled from company surveys through the year, exit interviews and employee feedback to allow managers to see how they are doing on certain core competencies. This is not the first time when Infosys has taken this kind of initiative. Last year, Infosys launched Compass, a digital platform that allows employees to mobilise available opportunities on career growth, learning and networks. Infosys’ Zero Distance programme is already doing well which aims at innovation in all projects the company is running.

Lay-offs in IT sector have been blown out of proportion: Infosys HR head

At a time when <keyword id="46431" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-Inc">India Inc</keyword> is busy looking at the profit graph, <keyword id="6354512" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> has undertaken a gigantic step to save the environment. In sync with PM Modi’s dream to see one lakh MW of solar capacity in India, Infosys will spend Rs 400 crore over the next 4 years to achieve carbon-neutrality commuting and travel by its nearly 1.8 lakh employees and in doing so deepen its commitment to sustainability. 
 As per a news report in <keyword id="77091" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Economic-Times">The Economic Times</keyword>, in the past three years, Infosys has spent about $50 million (Rs 320 crore) retrofitting its equipment such as lighting, air-conditioning, power, etc. 
 
Infosys will spend Rs 70 crore this year on green initiatives including installing solar projects for rural electrification, biogas plants and distribution of smokeless cook-stoves in villages, besides afforestation. 
 "These will benefit communities outside of the company. Our programmes are in sync with the guidelines issued by various international agencies, including the <keyword id="6355833" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="united-nations">United Nations</keyword>. These projects will have the maximum social impact, and are subject to audit by international agencies," Infosys <keyword id="192405" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="executive-vice-president">executive vice-president</keyword> <keyword id="350389" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ramadas-Kamath">Ramadas Kamath</keyword> told the financial daily. 
 
"The buildings built after 2008 are all green structures complying with the highest sustainability standards. We are also implementing zero waste to landfill, and rainwater harvesting," Kamath added. 
 However, Infosys’ <keyword id="45171" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="VP">VP</keyword> believes achieving 100% renewable energy in India is difficult because of regulations and red tapism in the states of India. 
 “Only in Karnataka do we have a stable, long-term policy with ease of wheeling and banking, open access and project implementation. The <keyword id="71" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Prime-Minister">prime minister</keyword> wants to see one lakh MW of solar capacity in India, but this will remain a pipedream if states don't come up with proactive policies," he added. 
 
Infosys restructuring top 200 customer accounts 
 The <keyword id="6354321" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bengaluru">Bengaluru</keyword> based software exporter is in its process of revamping the structure of its top 200 customer accounts. Aiming an ambitious $20-billion (Rs 1.27 lakh crore) revenue target in five years, Infosys would pair senior partners with sales leaders . 
 As per a news report by the Economic Times, the <keyword id="24211" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="chief-executive">Chief executive</keyword> <keyword id="6369763" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vishal-Sikka">Vishal Sikka</keyword> also said his office will directly oversee the top 15 accounts. 
 
The company is also in the process of overhauling its compensation structure for sales and delivery executives to ensure higher incremental revenue, or the additional revenue generated in a year. 
 
Under the new structure, India's second-largest software exporter will assign a 'client partner' to its top 200 customer accounts, who will have equal responsibility along with the account managers of those accounts. 
 Infosys' top 100 customers include Fortune-500 companies such as <keyword id="6374849" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bank-of-America">Bank of America</keyword> and <keyword id="6354427" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Apple">Apple</keyword>.

Infosys to spend Rs 400 crore over next 4 years to go green

The Covid-19 pandemic drastically changed the way we work, with <keyword id="20665553" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="remote-work" source="keywords">remote work</keyword> quickly becoming the new normal. Employees across the globe adapted to working from home, enjoying newfound flexibility and a better <keyword id="19901232" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="work-life-balance" source="keywords">work-life balance</keyword>. And for a long time, we all thought that this was the new world and going to the office every day would be a thing of the past. However, as pandemic restrictions eased, many companies began rolling back these remote policies, pushing employees to return to the office. Tech giant <keyword id="19904608" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amazon" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Amazon" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> recently ended remote work for its employees and told them to come to office five days a week, just like how it used to be before the pandemic. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, in a blog post, said that working from offices has its benefits and therefore all employees will have to start coming to work the entire week. He added that even though they will permit work from home in case of emergencies (taking care of your sick kid, running emergency errands etc), remote work will no longer be the norm. <h2>Companies are calling employees back to offices</h2>Amazon isn’t the only company that has implemented the <keyword id="20007258" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rto" source="keywords">RTO</keyword> (<keyword id="20408795" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="return-to-office" source="keywords">return to office</keyword>) mandate. Companies like <keyword id="19945574" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Wipro" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Wipro" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Wipro">Wipro</keyword>, TCS, X (earlier called Twitter) and Infosys also require employees to be there in office for at least three days a week. While X boss <keyword id="19903807" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Elon-Musk" source="keywords">Elon Musk</keyword> had once asked those seeking work from home to “get off of their moral high horse,” Infosys CEO N. R. Narayana Murthy had made headlines for saying that workers in India should work 70 hours per week. In wake of Amazon’s recent RTO mandate, many young professionals are reacting strongly on the internet. While some feel that the RTO mandate will hamper their productivity, others feel that it is simply unnecessary. And then there are also some people who think that this is a good decision. Let us take a look at how people are reacting on being called back to offices. <h2>How are people reacting?</h2>Social media sites like Reddit, X, and LinkedIn are full of reactions on the RTO mandate. Many employees feel that this will increase their cost and time spent on commute. Amazon’s recent decision to bring its employees back to offices has not sat well with many, especially those accustomed to the <keyword id="20445439" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hybrid-work-model" source="keywords">hybrid work model</keyword>. On LinkedIn, Samrat Bhardwaj, who has previously interned with Amazon India, questioned the rationale behind the shift, asking whether the company truly considered employee well-being or was more focused on its own benefits. He also voiced concerns over the increased cost in case employees think of moving closer to tech hubs. He also added that if people start living at a distance from tech parks, rent will be lower, but you'll be wasting a lot of time to and fro from the office every day. On the other hand, Erin Mantz, a former Meta and Amazon employee, pointed out the stark difference between previous work norms and the flexibility of today's workforce in a LinkedIn post. “Gen Xers, for decades, used to have to go in every day... no working from home, no midday walks or being home for the dishwasher repairman,” she said, reflecting on how work-life balance has evolved. She concluded that the shift back to in-office work might not align with modern expectations, suggesting that today’s workforce has experienced a better way of working. <h2>“Working in the parking lot isn’t a bad idea”</h2>People aren’t just concerned about the increased cost and wastage of time in commute. Some also pointed out the irony of commuting to the office only to continue working in their cars due to a lack of proper space and resources. One Reddit user said, “Genuinely had no idea how bad RTO would be until it hit. I'm as unproductive as ever and half my work is done in the parking lot at this point for these exact reasons. Going back to the office isn't the end of the world, but when there's zero space or even disability accommodation for the employees? Unacceptable, especially considering the ones who usually enforce the arrangements all have their own private offices with the best gear their department offers.” Another user, Oracle-2050, quipped that working from their car was a makeshift solution, noting, "At least I can attend Teams meetings and make phone calls." The absurdity of the situation was highlighted by yet another commenter who sarcastically remarked, “Only in clown world would a worker drive to the office in order to do work in their car.” Another user pointed out that the decision-makers pushing these mandates “all have their own private offices with the best gear their department offers,” leaving regular employees to struggle in far less conducive work environments. <h2>The “Fake work” problem </h2> Annie Dean, who earlier used to work as Director of Remote Work at Facebook, took a critical stance on LinkedIn, highlighting that return-to-office mandates don’t address the core problem which is “Fake work.” This term, popularised by Airbnb’s Brian Chesky, refers to tasks that feel like work but don’t actually create value for the business. Dean explained in her post that employees are drowning in endless meetings and messages, which detract from productivity. She argued that instead of mandating office attendance, companies like Amazon should focus on “pioneering new, more efficient modes of work.” This argument has resonated with many on X as well, where employees have expressed frustration over the return-to-office mandates being viewed as a quick fix. One Twitter/X user remarked that "commuting to do the same virtual meetings in person isn’t solving anything," while others echoed that the core problem lies in work structures, not location. Here are some other reactions on X: <div type="image" title="negative reactions" msid="113528739" hostid="261" sizebytes="64721"></div> <h2>A quiet layoff strategy? </h2> Yet another take on the RTO mandate comes from Jennifer DeLorenzo, a former senior recruiter at Pinterest. She suggested that the move feels like a “quiet layoff strategy.” According to her, by mandating full-time office attendance, companies may be hoping for a wave of resignations without having to deal with the negative press of formal layoffs. “This tactic allows them to reduce headcount while avoiding the negative optics of layoffs,” DeLorenzo wrote on LinkedIn, adding that it may backfire as hiring becomes challenging again when the economy shifts. Many others seemed to agree with her view. On Reddit too, there are many people talking about how companies might be carrying out soft layoffs by implementing an RTO mandate. Her comments tapped into a broader conversation on how companies may be using return-to-office mandates to indirectly reduce their workforce. Other social media users pointed out similar trends across industries, where companies tighten office attendance policies to nudge employees toward leaving voluntarily. <h2>Some mixed reactions too </h2> While the return-to-office mandates are frustrating for many, not all reactions are negative. Some employees, particularly newer hires, see value in the traditional office setting. Bhardwaj, for example, also noted that going to the office is beneficial for freshers who want to learn. “I do believe that going to the office makes you learn a lot as freshers,” he wrote in his post, suggesting that for those early in their careers, the in-person experience might be crucial for growth and networking. Some users on X too seemed to be in support of this mandate. Here’s a look: <div type="image" title="mixed-reactions" msid="113528718" hostid="261" sizebytes="77770"></div> This duality reflects the ongoing debate around the future of work. On one hand, companies like Amazon, Google, and Meta are focusing on building stronger in-office teams, believing that physical presence fosters better collaboration, innovation, and mentoring. On the other hand, employees, especially those who experienced the benefits of remote work during the pandemic, are pushing back against these mandates, valuing the flexibility and improved work-life balance that working from home provides. As companies continue to adjust their RTO policies, the tension between employee expectations and corporate strategies is likely to persist. However, one thing is clear — the future of work is still being negotiated, and both sides are making their voices heard across the internet.

'I'm unproductive, this is not the real solution': Internet reacts as Amazon, Wipro and others call employees back to office

The <keyword id="43588" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="world-health-organization" source="Orion">World Health Organization</keyword> (WHO) warned that <keyword id="1334" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="china" source="Orion">China</keyword> is "under-representing the true impact" of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, especially the exact number of deaths. In a statement on Wednesday, Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme, said: "We believe that definition (of a <keyword id="8764262" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="covid" source="Orion">Covid</keyword> death) is too narrow," the BBC reported. China's figures "under-represent the true impact of the disease in terms of hospital admissions, in terms of ICU admissions, and particularly in terms of deaths", he added. Amidst the ongoing outbreak, China has stopped publishing the single-day tallies for Covid-19 cases and deaths. In December 2022, the country changed the criteria for what constitutes a Covid death, meaning only those who die of respiratory illnesses are counted. In his statement, Ryan added that China had increased its engagement with the WHO in recent weeks, and said he looked forward to receiving "more comprehensive data", reports the BBC. But he also suggested individual healthworkers could report their own data and experiences. "We do not discourage doctors and nurses reporting these deaths and these cases. We have an open approach to be able to record the actual impact of disease in society," the top WHO official was quoted as saying The UK science data company Airfinity estimates more than two million Covid cases a day in China, and some 14,700 deaths. Since China lifted key parts of its "zero-Covid" strategy almost a month ago, there have been reports of hospitals and crematoriums being overwhelmed. More than a dozen nations, including India, have introduced travel restrictions on travellers from China -- a move criticised by Beijing as being politically motivated and threatened to retaliate. No new Covid variants have been detected in China, despite the surge in cases. However, the WHO has warned this could be due to a decrease in testing. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/tcs-infosys-wipro-and-other-it-companies-earnings-preview-for-q3-fy23/articleshow/96731891.cms">December quarter likely to be a weak one for the IT sector – Infosys amongst top analyst picks</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/from-0-to-100-million-in-5-years-thats-how-long-startups-founded-in-2017-took-to-scale-up-says-redseer-report/articleshow/96739954.cms">From 0 to $100 million in 5 years – That’s how long startups founded in 2017 took to scale up, says Redseer report</a>

You Searched For "infosys zero distance programme" and got 10 results

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Infosys to spend Rs 400 crore over next 4 years to go green

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'I'm unproductive, this is not the real solution': Internet reacts as Amazon, Wipro and others call employees back to office

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