After nearly two years, India is returning to normalcy, with a drop in COVID-19 cases, more vaccinations, and the opening of new fronts. Along with schools, colleges, and other workplaces, the IT industry is gradually opening up by returning employees to the office, putting an end to a months-long culture of working from home.

While some IT employees have recently begun working from their offices, others continue to work from their hometowns. This regime, however, is about to come to an end for Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest IT services provider by revenue (TCS). According to reports, the company has asked its employees to return to their “deputed location (base branch)” by November.

TCS said in a statement to the Economic Times that before implementing its 25/25 model for the year 2025, it will ask employees to return to their offices first.

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“Towards the end of CY’21, we will encourage our associates to return to offices, at least initially, before we switch to the 25/25 model. This will be done in a phased and flexible manner and will depend on respective team leaders and the requirements of each team/ project,” the statement to ET reads.

“We are committed to the 25/ 25 model, but before transitioning to the model we need to start by getting people back to office and gradually evolve to 25/25,” it adds.

TCS employs a total of 5,28,748 people in India and around the world. According to the company, about 5% of employees are currently working from offices. TCS executive vice president and global head of human resources Milind Lakkad made the decision to bring others back.

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“As employees prepare to return to office after months of working from home, organizations must transform their workplaces to create a purpose-led and adaptable enterprise. They require a comprehensive plan for safety, security and basic health needs of employees guided by empathy, engagement and empowerment,” a note on the company’s website reads. “TCS Safe Workplace ensures a smooth workplace transition by monitoring the key criteria that assure a safe and secure workplace, and productive environment. It helps minimize the complexities involved in redefining safety protocols to maintain social distancing. Equipped with an overarching deployment methodology and a strong integration layer, the solution offers end-to-end services across advisory, design, implementation and support.”

The IT behemoth intends to transition to a hybrid model 2525 in the future. According to this model, only 25% of the company’s associates will need to work out of facilities at any given time by 2025. Additionally, employees will not be required to work for more than 25% of their time.