Azim Premji: Over 90% of technology space employees working from home

NEW DELHI: IT czar Azim Premji on Sunday said more than 90 per cent of the workforce in the technology industr y of the country continue to work from home, and lauded the hybrid model of work.

"Within the first few weeks of the (COVID-19-induced) lockdown, over 90 per cent of the technology industr y was working from home and even today over 90 per cent of people continue to work from home," he said.

Addressing an interactive session hosted by the Bangalore Chamber of Industr y and Commerce, Premji said the IT industr y and the government have appreciated the value of a permanent hybrid model where people would work partly from office and home even af ter the end of the pandemic.

Stating that the hybrid model would have huge comparative advantage, he said it would drive inclusive growth, better participation from all parts of the countr y and greater number of women who would have flexibility to work from home.

"Technology is becoming the lifeline for us as individuals and also businesses," he said.

If there was any doubt, the year 2020 showed how fundamental technology has become. Technology played an important role in ensuring that the government's social schemes and assistance programmes reached the mass population, according to him. Availability of digital infrastructure in tier-2 cities has helped greatly many businesses to thrive, Premji said.