Infosys Narayana Murthy Explains Why He Wants Employees Back in Office

Narayana Murthy wants his staff back in their offices as soon as possible.

If people worked from home, Murthy remarked, it was very difficult to foster a culture of hard work, imagination, excellence, intuition, meritocracy, discussion, and debate.

NR Narayana Murthy, the founder of Infosys, urged firms to encourage their staff to return to work now that the worst of the pandemic appeared to be over.

"I am not a big supporter of work from home at all," the IT veteran remarked at DH's Bengaluru 2040 event on Friday, citing the practice's negative influence on business culture.

If people worked from home, Murthy remarked, it was difficult to foster a culture of hard work, imagination, excellence, intuition, meritocracy, discussion, and debate.

In a virtual session, Murthy remarked, "When people work from home, that institutional culture will slowly become weaker and weaker."

Working from home is not a viable option in a country like India, where many employees live in multi-generational households, have insufficient Internet speed, and do not have a separate area to convert into a home office.

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While working from home was necessary during the worst of the pandemic, Murthy advised corporate citizens to return to the office to increase productivity, which was critical for a country like India that sought to surpass China in terms of per capita GDP.

He pointed out that India's production was lower than Bangladesh's, a country founded a little over four decades ago.

According to official figures, India's per capita income in the fiscal years 2020–21 was a little over $1,900, compared to $2,227 in Bangladesh and $12,551 in China.

Murthy also used the example of Germany in the 1940s, when workers put in "over 16 hours a day, six days a week" to rebuild the country's economy following WWII.

"I believe in emulating that as it is the only way we can raise our economy and follow China," Murthy added.

Many businesses, particularly those in the information technology sector, enabled workers to work from home during the pandemic, but are now attempting to rehire them.

"My wish is that all the companies get back to the office at the earliest," Murthy stated.