Companies operating in the National Capital Region have started giving their employees work-from-home option amid air pollution touching severe levels.
Most of these companies are already working in a hybrid mode and now encouraging employees to work from home to avoid stepping out in the toxic air.
Many companies are also installing indoor air purification plants in offices and asking staff to wear masks.
As most companies — including consulting and IT services — are following the hybrid working mode, a switch to work from home is seamless, ET reported.
At least half of the companies following hybrid working models are encouraging employees to work from home considering the current deteriorating air quality in and around Delhi, said Aditya Mishra, chief executive of CIEL HR Services, which offers recruitment and HR services to about 100 companies in North India.
“We are aware of even manufacturing companies encouraging employees in roles like legal, finance and HR to work from home for a few days due to high pollution levels,” he was quoted as saying in the ET report.
“We are monitoring the situation closely and will continue with our hybrid working model,” said Sunit Sinha, partner and head people, performance and culture at KPMG in India. “Safety of our people and doing our best to serve clients seamlessly stay at the centre of our actions,” he said.
At its offices in Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida, workforce solutions provider Quess Corp has set up more indoor air-purifying plants. In the last couple of years, it has also installed HEPA filters that help improve indoor air quality.
“We have more than 1,000 core employees back at work. We are encouraging employees to continue wearing 3-ply cotton masks within offices. This takes care of both Covid-19 virus and air pollution,” Lohit Bhatia, president of workforce management at Quess, told ET.
The National Capital Region and parts of North India face hazardous smog due to crop burning in October-November.
