For the last few days, India has been recording lesser than 1 Lakh cases per day. As the COVID_19 second wave subsides and more people get vaccinated, our states will become increasingly confident of unlocking the economy.

Many companies are waiting to get back to the ‘work from office’ mode. They are looking for ways to enhance collaboration and get work done faster with physical proximity. Technology companies are no different. While they have reaped the obvious benefits in terms of reduction in infrastructure costs, and administrative expenses, most of these organizations are reluctant to switch on to a completely ‘work from home’ (WFH) mode.

Hyperlocal Workplaces – A new model?

When the first wave subsided, organizations were encouraging employees to come back to work in a gradual manner. It began with once a week or two days a week with utmost precautions and then scaling up relatively. However, the second wave has put that on the backburner.

Many employees have moved back from the metro cities (where these IT and technology firms have their global delivery centers) to their hometowns once WFH became the only option. This has got the technology companies thinking and led to the genesis of a ‘Hyperlocal’ workplace.

What is a hyperlocal workplace, one might ask? 

The large technology giants are considering setting up smaller hubs in small towns and cities across the country. While this might not be a mammoth campus such as the ones we see in the metro cities, it can still accommodate a few hundred people.

COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital adoption to a large extent. Employees have learnt to collaborate digitally much better than in the pre-pandemic days. A hyperlocal workplace can succeed if employees can seamlessly collaborate online. Technology companies have gained confidence in the collaboration capabilities of their employees during the lockdown. Hence, they are increasingly positive about the success and operational efficiency that can come about with a Hyperlocal workplace.

Both organization and employees would benefit from a Hyperlocal workplace. Here’s how.

What is the benefit of creating a hyperlocal workplace for organizations?

Technology companies are always in search of good talent. As most of the people graduating from engineering colleges are not directly employable on digital projects, the companies have to look far and wide in search of talent while also supporting them to help migrate to newer cities wherein the delivery centers are located.

With Hyperlocal workplaces, technology companies can scout for talent from tier-3 cities to even the rural belt. Here are a few advantages that such technology companies and organizations can derive from a hyperlocal workplace.

1. Hire the best talent by scouting a diverse talent pool
2. Since employees needn’t migrate to a new city, they can optimize the cost of acquiring such talent
3. With hyperlocal workplaces, they would be able to rationalize the cost of physical infrastructure and office spaces.
4. They can also manage their administration and operational costs better and CAPEX and expansion plan can become more predictive and in sync with their hiring plans
5. They can instantly put together better cross-functional teams and offer the best solutions and services to their clients

Does a Hyperlocal workplace benefit the employee?

It does, in more ways than one. We will list a few here:

1. With hyperlocal workplaces, employees can walk or drive down to work in their native city
2. The cost of migrating to a new city, paying for accommodation, food, etc. can be saved and hence they can earn more
3. Being closer to their homes will enable them to be more at peace and focus better on their projects
4. It will enable them to accelerate their growth path and they could become the head of these centers and take ownership of running the operations smoothly and enhancing the profitability of these centers
5. The native places of these employees can flourish as they spend their income there and help in the progress of their native cities and towns.

What is your view about a Hyperlocal workplace? Do you think it will work? Let us know in the comments below.