Fear of outbreak grips IT industry; techies to work from home now

Taking stock of the current situation to prevent the deadly COVID-19 from spreading, a number of IT companies in Coimbatore are charting out plans to make their employees work from home.

Published: 16th March 2020 10:27 AM |

People wear masks as preventive measure against coronavirus. (Photo | Shriram BN/EPS)

By Deepak Sathish

Express News Service

COIMBATORE: Taking stock of the current situation to prevent the deadly COVID-19 from spreading, a number of IT companies in Coimbatore are charting out plans to make their employees work from home.

While the idea is more relevant for software firms, the same might not be emulated by call centres because of the mandate to attend queries of customers.

The move comes following the a recent public notice provided by the Department of Telecom and Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) allowing employees working at IT and BPO firms present in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in India (functioning under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry) to work from home till April 30.

Companies in SEZs at Coimbatore are likely to activate the Disaster Recovery (DR) mode by asking its workforce to work from home. As the preliminary plans in this regard are already done, the companies would initiate it if there are any cases of COVID-19 reported in the district.

It must be noted that Coimbatore has three SEZs, namely TIDEL Park, CHIL SEZ IT Park, and Rathinam Techzone.

Highly placed sources at an American multinational corporation here said the employees would be provided laptops and dongles to enable them to work from home. The idea is to basically protect employees, the source said.

Besides, the companies have advised employees to avoid travelling outside the district and deferred its regular process of conducting walk-in interviews.

Coimbatore Hi-tech Information Limited (CHIL) SEZ IT Park, Director Ashok Bakthavathsalam, said, "Based on the recommendations provided to us, IT companies are testing out the disaster recovery plan by asking 20 per cent of their employees to work from home. They are also trying to ensure that the said employees deliver their designated work."

With a secure network or Virtual Private Network (VPN), the employees need not bother about the data or projects while working from home, Ashok added.

An employee working with an e-commerce giant in Coimbatore, requesting anonymity, said his company had asked its employees whether they could work from home if the situation worsens. It is said the company would provide all requirements including power backup, internet, laptops, among others.

TIDEL Park (Coimbatore) Deputy General Manager (operations) R Sendhil Murugan, said they would soon form a committee comprising higher officials of IT companies to check how disaster recovery mode could be activated.

As part of precautionary measures, firms operating in SEZs have deputed doctors for screening their employees and made hand sanitisers available.

Stat attack

Number of SEZ in Coimbatore- 3

TIDEL Park

- Number of employees- 12,500

- Number of companies- 72

CHIL SEZ IT Park

- Number of employees- Around 40,000

- Number of companies- Nearly 20