‘Work-life balance is very important…’: Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji stresses importance of work-life balance

Wipro Ltd Executive Chairman Rishad Premji emphasized the importance of work-life balance and shared his lessons learned during a fireside chat on the first day of Bangalore Tech Summit 2024, economic times Reported on Wednesday, November 20.

Premji highlighted his early understanding of work-life balance before the COVID-19 outbreak and said it is something that people have to define for themselves as organizations will never work for individuals.

“Work-life balance is very important. I learned this very early, before the COVID-19 outbreak, that work life is something you have to define for yourself; the organization will never work for you. So you have to define it meaning and draw boundaries,” Rishad Premji said in a fireside chat.

The Wipro chairman’s views come days after rival Infosys founder Narayana Murthy reiterated his stance on a 70-hour working week. Murthy said he did not believe in the concept of work-life balance and highlighted his dismay at India’s switch from a six-day working week to a five-day one in 1986.

Move to hybrid mode

Several IT companies in India have shifted to hybrid working models in the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro have started asking employees to return to offices more frequently than before, although many remain flexible.

“One of the models that the IT industry has adopted, and I think the government has been supportive of this, is a more hybrid model of working. It’s a controversial topic. But as a company we’ve said we can’t come in every week Three days, but we want you to have the flexibility to work at your workplace for two days,” Premji said, according to the news portal: “This will definitely help the workforce. “

It’s good news that companies are talking openly about the taboo subject of work-life balance and employee mental health, especially in the wake of the 2020 pandemic.

Premji’s study

Sharing the lessons he learned from his journey, Rishad Premji said that it’s okay not to be okay and this thought helped him focus on the right sleep, exercise, a news portal reported and eating right.

The ability to unlearn is important, as is the agility and speed to adapt and change, he said, highlighting the skills needed in tectonic shifts in technology.

Premji also called India the technology capital of the world and said there has been a subtle but far-reaching change in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as people come to India in search of talent and not just because of the country’s low prices.

“When you talk to stakeholders and customers, I find that more and more people are changing their decision-making. They are shifting their actions to India. It is not just a low-cost destination. They will say, go ahead. Don’t walk in the corridors of New York and London… So seriously, it’s much easier to be on the global map today than ever before,” Premji said. reported the news portal.

Artificial Intelligence Disruption

When it comes to artificial intelligence, Premji said he believes in evolution and that adoption of the technology will be a journey for companies.

“Customers are still in experimental mode. Customers are the POC for the technology. Are they moving to scale production? However, it can be said not. Are more and more customers moving from pilot to production? The answer is yes,” he said.

He agrees that some tasks in our jobs require human intervention, while other things can be better performed by machines (AI).