India's Largest Reverse Migration And Work From Home Is Powered By Technology

COVID-19 has completely changed our lives -- every small bit of it. From not stepping out of your home without a facemask to refraining from kissing or hugging your loved one with the fear of contracting the novel coronavirus, we¡¯re experiencing it all. And it is only getting worse with each passing day.

These changes have trickled down into our work life as well.

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People working from home, from their hometown

While many have been laid off from their work, many are also working from home with companies even sending their office desktops/laptops home to not hinder the work performance. Moreover, recently, the Indian government has announced that people working in IT/BPOs will be working from home until December 31 of this year.

This has lead to one of the biggest reverse migration this nation has ever seen. People who had migrated to top tier cities for their jobs have now gone back to their hometown and work from home from there, saving rent money while also spend time with their family. And all this wouldn't have been possible without technology.

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Internet is no longer a luxury

Internet is that one string that is holding all of this together. There was a time when having internet at one¡¯s home was considered as a luxury, as a special perk. However, with COVID-19, those days are gone. People don¡¯t have a cable TV, but they sure have an internet connection -- whether to work from home, to study from home or just for entertainment.

Even government telecom companies like BSNL offered internet connection for free for the first few months of lockdown, followed by reasonable monthly plans to help families stay connected.

Team texting/Video conferencing apps are helping colleagues connect

Team communication apps like Slack, Google Meet/Chat, Hangouts or even Microsoft Teams are helping colleagues stay connected and keep business afloat. Moreover, video conferencing apps have never been so extensively used since their inception, since COVID-19 lockdown.

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Video conferencing apps like Google Meet, Zoom etc have eliminated the need to make work trips and get business done while you¡¯re on your bed in the bedroom. We¡¯re seeing apps clocking more users every day, every hour that was never seen before. Zoom is clocking over 300 million daily meeting participants, Microsoft Teams clocked over 200 million daily meeting participants. Google Meet is hosting 3 billion minutes of video meetings and adding 3 million new users every day.

For many, the work hasn¡¯t changed

While not all kinds of work can be done in a work-from-home arrangement, there are some that can be without any hassle. Moreover, you might think with people working from home, elements of their work might have changed. And while there are a few minor changes, majorly the work hasn¡¯t really changed that much for many. We asked a few professionals who are working from home, back in their hometowns.

Snigdha Ghosh, a Mental Health Counsellor who provides therapy to people online shared how the work from home hasn¡¯t changed the work she¡¯d normally do, ¡°My primary job involves chatting with clients on our online portal -- this is around 70 percent of what I do. Remaining 30 percent involves writing content pieces on psychology and answering topics teenagers normally go through. This work doesn¡¯t require me to be in office only and thus are executed easily from home.¡±

Manami Saha Mondal, a copywriter for ad company Leo Burnett explained her work from home routine, ¡°I work in an advertising agency. My job broadly includes writing copy, headlines, scripts for brands and sometimes it requires coordination with the Art Team and Account Management team at the same time. Initially synchronising with them over calls/emails while working from home was cumbersome, but with time it got streamlined and now it¡¯s completely seamless.¡±

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Cloud-based infrastructure keeps everyone connected

We asked them the kind of apps that are helping them work seamlessly from home. Manami shared how Microsoft Teams has been a true boon to her all this while. She said, ¡°On Microsoft Teams, everything is in just one place; it's seamless. I can use its mobile app also conveniently. From brainstorming to presenting ideas, it kept our team's spark alive even when we are apart. A great app to be connected with my teammates.¡±

Snigdha shared how Google Meet and Google Docs are helping her in conducting sessions as well as connecting with her colleagues to discuss new content ideas that they could work on. Her primary work, however, revolves around the company¡¯s own content management system and chat portal for communicating with clients.

The concept of offices slowly fading but not completely gone

The whole work from home arrangement is only showing the fact that one barely needs to be in office to work. Offices that never had a work from home culture are now bringing policies and encouraging employees to come to office only when absolutely necessary. In fact, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey even went to the extent of announcing that their employees can work from home forever.

Yet, there are many that miss being at work, who feel they¡¯re more impactful in an office, then at home. Dheer Lakhotia, a Data Analyst shares how the work from home routine isn¡¯t working out as well for him, ¡°My work is basically using data and my business knowledge to answer critical business questions for my clients. All this happens on Zoom and there has been minor to no impact on my efficiency in this work from home setting. The changes, however, are a few.¡±

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He shares how his work that involves active communication has gotten severely impacted and digital means of communication aren¡¯t really cutting it for him, ¡°It's difficult to be a coach/mentor in such situations wherein you do not have an exact idea about how the other person is feeling after a certain event and handling pressure situations has gotten even tougher because now the tone of your decision matters a lot more than when you had facial expressions to go with them.¡±

¡°A simple client meeting now has added components. During the call at multiple instances, there will be gaps in fluidity and communication that were easily made up for when you were in office. All you had to do was look at your team members facial expression and you would know what to do next.¡±