Wipro tightens hybrid rules, mandates 6-hour office stays
UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA — Bengaluru-based IT firm Wipro has revised its hybrid work policy, now requiring employees to spend at least six hours in the office for three days a week, marking a significant shift from its earlier flexible approach.
According to a report from The Economic Times, the policy, effective January 1, applies to the company’s approximately 234,000 employees in India and introduces stricter attendance rules aimed at fostering collaboration amid faster project timelines.
Six-hour office minimum triggers leave deductions
Under the updated guidelines, employees who fail to meet the weekly six-hour minimum may see their leave balances reduced, according to several Wipro staff members who spoke to The Economic Times.
“In addition, if employees spend less than six hours in the office, then they will face a half-day’s cut in their leave,” the report noted.
Temporary remote work remains part of Wipro’s policy but has been scaled back from 15 days to 12 days per year, usable for self-care, illness, or caregiving.
The company clarified in an email to employees that six hours represents the minimum time at the office, not the total working hours, which remain 9.5 hours daily.
Employees are expected to complete the remaining hours from home while ensuring all assigned work is finished.
“We trust all associates will follow the policy in both letter and spirit as it supports collaboration across teams while providing flexibility,” Wipro emphasized the rationale for these changes.
IT sector-wide return-to-office push accelerates
The policy comes as India’s US$283 billion IT sector grapples with muted revenue growth and the disruptive effects of artificial intelligence (AI) on traditional people-based delivery models.
“Earlier, applications used to be rolled out every two or three years. Now, the way software is designed and coded is different, with applications being rolled out in as little as eight weeks. So, with upgrades getting faster, people have to collaborate and work much quicker, which makes remote working inefficient,” Guruprasad Srinivasan, executive director at staffing firm Quess Corp, told The Economic Times.
Srinivasan also noted that while transactional work, such as accounting or data management, can still be done remotely, transformational projects require in-office coordination to ensure better delivery and quality.
Other IT majors, including TCS and Infosys, have similarly tightened return-to-office rules, linking attendance to variable pay and implementing system-based monitoring to enforce compliance.
As India’s outsourcing industry navigates the balance between hybrid flexibility and productivity, Wipro’s move underscores a broader trend: companies are recalibrating work-from-office policies to meet tighter deadlines and boost collaboration, signaling a new era in post-pandemic workplace strategies.
Wipro was previously ranked #3 in the OA500 2025, an objective index of the world’s top 500 outsourcing companies. The 2026 edition of the OA500 is expected to be released in March.
