Tag: WFH (Work From Home)

Employee headcount increases in Delhi-NCR offices, not so much in Mumbai yet: Report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Almost a year ago employers cutting across industries in India instructed their employees to work from home due to the novel coronavirus that wreaked havoc not just here but all over the world. However, now with the vaccination drive underway and the situation comparatively under control, office spaces have started filling up. The Economic Times reported that top office-space operators and co-working companies were reporting an occupancy ranging between 10-35 percent across India in what could be described as the beginning of a post-COVID era.

It said that IT hubs such as Bengaluru and Hyderabad still have a large number of employees working from home and hence they were behind the national average of people now operating from their offices. But offices in the national capital region (NCR) are showing increased numbers.

The rising numbers in the NCR could also be attributed to the continuous fall in covid infections. Delhi, for example, recorded only 145 infections and two deaths on Sunday. Authorities have hinted that they are open to lifting more restrictions in the weeks to follow.

The case is not the same with Mumbai, though. The maximum city, according to the report, is still showing low numbers because employers continue to discourage workers from using the local transport, partly due to the recent rise in cases. The city’s office occupancy is still hovering around 10-15 percent, says the report. Maharashtra on Monday recorded over 5,200 cases. As part of its measures to contain the spread of the virus, the state government has also restricted the employee headcount in offices at 30 percent.

SK Sayal, whole-time director and CEO, Bharti Realty Limited told ET the last two months had seen an increase in occupancy. The office operators also say that the numbers are expected to rise significantly once the vaccination drive gathers steam.

According to the report, the spaces were occupied in the range of 15-20 percent until December. They have, however, shown marked increases since then, going up to 20-25 percent in some cases.

Neetish Sarda, the founder of Smartworks, says the occupancy in Hyderabad and Bengaluru was yet to reach 25 percent but in Kolkata and Delhi-NCR it had already gone past 35 percent, it reported.

Most companies, including MNCs, experts say will start focussing on increasing headcount in offices from March onwards. A lot also depends on where the pandemic is headed in the country. India, last week, recorded over 100,000 cases in a week after five weeks. A new wave of the virus in the country could once again delay the return of employees to offices.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Rewind 2020: A year full of undesired surprises

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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2020 has been a year like no other. Over 100 million people in India lost their jobs by the end of March when a lockdown was imposed to combat COVID-19. Since then, many who managed to hold on to their jobs were forced to take pay cuts. CNBC-TV18’s Ritu Singh looks back at the year that was for India’s job market and finds that employment rate has been falling since 2017.

2020 will also be remembered as a year when the India-China relations went through a hard reset. Embroiled in a border stand-off in eastern Ladakh since May, 20 Indian soldiers were killed in June, in what were the worst clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in 45 years. The Chinese side too suffered casualties. India has retaliated by banning Chinese apps and putting Chinese investments under greater scrutiny. Nine months since the border tensions began, lakhs of Indian and Chinese troops remain deployed at the LAC. China has refused to pull back troops from Indian positions and instead wants India to accept the new status quo. So, will the LAC standoff pan out in 2021 in a way that benefits India? CNBC-TV18’s Parikshit Luthra looks for some answers.

2020 also saw the centre cross swords with most state governments – and again, it was the fragile GST that was at the crux of the dispute. Things came to a head when the government threw its hands up and said the prolonged lockdown had left its coffers empty and the near-zero balance in the GST compensation fund meant states could not be compensated. CNBC-TV18’s Timsy Jaipuria recounts the skirmish that ended with most states tapping out.

This year has taught us about how we could work from home over an extended period of time. And while the jury may still be out on just how effective work-from-home is, we bring you two contrasting stories from Chennai and Delhi, on how working from home worked out in two different ways for two different people. Here’s the story of Neha and Abu, and their work-from-home journey.

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Appliances, consumer electronics cos seek silver lining in 2021; pin hopes on new launches

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The appliances and consumer electronics industry, which lost around 25 percent of annual sales in the COVID-19-hit 2020, expects to regain the lost ground next year through a special focus on digital initiatives, emerging trends, change in consumer behaviour as well as the impetus to ramp up domestic manufacturing activities.

From WFH to DIY, 2020 has been unique with many challenges and possibilities for the industry. Leading brands witnessed rapid increase in digital consumption, changes in demands where more consumers are seeking value propositions with a comfortable, convenient, and connected experience to support a changed lifestyle amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Helped by high double-digit growth in festive season sales — where consumers purchased larger screen TVs, bigger refrigerators and washing machines to manage changing lifestyles under WFH (Work From Home) and DIY (Do It Yourself) trends — the industry expects the second half of the current fiscal ending March 31, 2021 to be better. Companies will continue to introduce products based on new technologies to establish themselves even more firmly in the segment by tapping the emerging demand for automation and digitisation, expanding presence in the digital medium with a special focus on omni-channels as well as semi-urban and rural markets.

According to Sony India, 2020 was an ”unprecedented year”. However, in the past few months, it has witnessed a ”sharp tendency shift” towards established brands and customers are now prioritising overall value proposition rather than just price. ”Overall, we see ourselves as a stronger brand in 2021 with Sony launching technologically advanced products and nicely meeting the demand from our customers,” Sony India Managing Director Sunil Nayyar said.

Samsung India, whose electronics business saw strong double-digit growth in the second half over last year, witnessed some very interesting trends among consumers who wanted to buy larger screen TVs, bigger refrigerators and washing machines to help them manage their changing lifestyles. ”This trend was visible even in smaller towns, leading to our premium products running out of stock across categories. This year, we have strengthened our lifestyle and luxury product portfolio. We are now excited to enter 2021 with our new vision of Powering Digital India and expect consumer demand to stay strong in the New Year,” Samsung India Senior VP of Consumer Electronics Business Raju Pullan said.

The pandemic changed the scope and range of home appliances that evolved from conventional to smart, aiding in multi-tasking, Panasonic India and South Asia President and CEO Manish Sharma said. ”Consumers today are seeking a value proposition, having a comfortable, convenient, and connected experience to support their lifestyle,” he said, adding the company plans to enhance the connected ecosystem of its products through Miraie, the connected living platform powered by IoT (Internet of Things) and AI (Artificial Intelligence).

However, there is a warning for the sector as well. According to the Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA), rising commodity costs could hit the industry in 2021. ”Rising commodity costs of late is now expected to impact the industry in the immediate months ahead,” CEAMA President Kamal Nandi said.

Though with predictable production and demand patterns, the industry is now able to cope up with the increase in demand but logistics still remains a challenge for some imported products due to freight issues and delays in port clearances, Nandi said. He is also the Executive Vice President of Godrej Appliances. Besides, the industry also faced several challenges on sourcing of components, particularly from China on which it is largely dependent, due to COVID-19 earlier this year and later on account of deteriorating relationship between the two countries.

The industry took on the challenge, helped by the government’s Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to reduce India’s dependence on China, and is creating a base for domestic component manufacturing. Terming the move of PLI as a ”game-changer”, the country’s largest contact manufacturer Dixon said it will help to create a world-class manufacturing base for the consumer electronics and appliances segment.

”PLI announcement for the sector is a game-changer for the Indian industry. Now, we can be a global champion in manufacturing. It has laid a strong foundation for the years to come and will help to make India as the global hub for manufacturing for the sector,” Dixon Technologies Chairman Sunil Vachani said. Moreover, to promote domestic manufacturing in the segment, the government re-imposed customs duty on import of open-cell for TVs from October this year. It had also put restrictions on imports of finished air conditioners.

LG Electronics India is expecting a 50 per growth in the premium segments of home appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines. It also had a ”huge spike” in demand for other products like microwave and dishwashers, and is investing to create multiple contents engaging the customers, LG Electronics India VP of Home Appliances Vijay Babu said. In 2020, new product categories such as dishwashers picked up substantially.

”This was also a year of new product categories like dishwashers and air purifiers witnessing a good pick up and we expect them to continue to gain popularity, as the market penetration is currently low and limited mostly to metros,” Voltas MD & CEO Pradeep Bakshi said.

BSH Home Appliances MD & CEO Neeraj Bahl said, ”our dishwashers, mixer grinders and washing machines picked up substantially and we are happy to share that we will cross our original top line and better our bottom line”. It expects 2021 to be ”very promising” and anticipate a growth of 25 percent.

As per a joint report by CEAMA and Frost & Sullivan, the appliances and consumer electronics industry’s total market size was Rs 76,400 crore in 2018-19.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow