Wipro has no plan to lay off staff: Rishad

NEW D E LHI: Wipro Chairman R ishad Pr emji on Monda y said t he company has not laid of f an y employee due to the COVID-19 impact and has no plans to do so for now.

Premji said this in r esponse to a ques tion b y a shareholder at the 74th annual g eneral meeting (AGM) of the compan y, held virtually.

"We a r e trying to dri ve cost r eduction through various other means , through operationally and otherwise, b ut w e ha ve laid of f no people and have no plans to la y of f anybody at the mo ment," he said. T his was h is first annual g eneral meeti ng (AGM) as the Chairman of Wi p ro, after taking charge in July last year.

During his addr ess to the A GM, Pr emji said without question, employee safety and well-being has been and will r emain of paramount importance to us.

"In Mar ch, a t the early onset of C OVID-19, we triggered our bu siness continuity plans and en - abled work from home for about 93 per cent of our employees acr oss the world. It was heartening and inspiring to observ e the seamless team- w ork which enabled the smooth execution of this massive change," he said.

In th ese past fe w months, we have settled well into this ne w way o f working and our focus re - mains on ma king o ur clients successful, he said, adding that "I also belie ve that some of these changes w ill fo rever transfor m how we work in the future."

Stating tha t a s part of our stra tegy in enabling businesses and consumers to trans form, our strategy of driving a 'Digital' first a pproach is particularly relevant in these times, the W ipro Chairman said, " we have ma de significant investments in Digital, Cloud, Cybersecurity and in our engineering capabilities."