Challenges of Remote Work for Indian IT Professionals in Global Companies

Indian IT professionals, numbering around five million, are crucial to maintaining the digital operations of major Western firms. Despite often working for globally renowned companies, many face difficult working conditions, especially when working from home. Space is a significant challenge, as over half of the Indian population lives with extended family. Small apartments double as offices, and arranging quiet workspaces requires careful planning. Workers also confront infrastructure issues: power cuts are routine, internet bandwidth is shared, and many have had to personally invest in costly backup power systems. Workplace surveillance has extended into homes, with employees required to prove interruptions caused by power failures. These conditions have had serious repercussions for family life, with disrupted mealtimes and evenings dominated by work demands. In response, Indian IT workers have staged protests demanding legal rights to disconnect and limits on working hours. The shift to remote work has transferred costs and stress from companies to employees, highlighting significant inequalities between Indian IT professionals and their counterparts in countries like the UK or the US. Policymakers and organisations must recognise that ‘working from home’ entails very different realities depending on location and socio-economic context.