Work from Home vs. Office Coast: The discussion about working from home has begun again. The government appealed to companies that the oil crisis had worsened. Oil saving aside, if you want to think about the good of the country, start working from home again. India’s foreign exchange reserves have declined by $38 billion in the past two months. If this trend continues, the situation will get worse within a year. Gold reserves also began to decline. Therefore, the government linked it to the national interest. But the companies are persistent. There is still less buzz among big companies in Noida Gurgaon. After all, why should companies be hesitant to offer work from home? Apart from salary, how much does a company have to spend on its employees by calling them to the office? Does working from home cost more than this? With that in mind, we’ve calculated the math for it.

How much does each seat cost?
Outsiders generally believe that companies only spend on their employees’ salaries. There is no remaining expense. But you will be surprised to know that big companies have to spend thousands of rupees every month on their employees regardless of salary. For example, big companies in Gurgaon Noida have to pay millions of rupees just for office rent. Apart from this, thousands of rupees per seat have to be spent on electricity, water, maintenance, housekeeping, provisions expenses, transportation etc. Understand this with an example. In corporate offices like Noida and Gurgaon, the cost per square foot ranges from Rs 140 to Rs 310 per month. Let’s take a look at the office in Gurgaon. This is a corporate office that can accommodate 200 people on one floor. The average rent for this floor is Rs 30,000. Apart from this, the electricity bill can reach up to Rs 5 lakh. Maintenance of the floor costs Rs 4 to 5 lakh. While on high speed internet one has to spend around Rs 2 lakh.

There is an IT team to operate the system consisting of several employees. There are water, tea and coffee making machines on each floor or there are staff to service them. There are guards for each office. Rs 1 to 2 can be spent on these two things. There is an administrator to manage this entire floor which consists of several employees. Add a monthly expenditure of Rs 2 lakh on this as well. Now expenses are also spent on repairing all this. Consider it just one thousand. Apart from this, the biggest expense that companies have to spend on their employees is on transportation. Some large companies pick up their employees from home by car or drive them home within a 50 km radius. Now one has to spend Rs 1 to 2 lakh per month even on stationery expenses. Large companies also keep doctors in their offices. Even if there are two doctors, it will cost at least Rs 2 lakh. Parking arrangements will also have to be made for 200 employees. A separate floor should be taken for this purpose. The rent for this floor should be Rs 5 to 7 lakh. Apart from this, there are many expenses for which companies have to pay thousands of dollars. Now, if we added it for each employee, it would be like this.

There are many hidden expenses on employees
The expenses that companies incur in the office are visible to employees, but there are many expenses that no one knows about. For example, if a company takes a minimum rent on a building, it has to spend millions of rupees in security deposit. In Delhi-NCR, landlords usually ask for 6 to 12 months’ rent in advance. It may be more or less. When the company pays this amount as security, the company’s capital is blocked. Thousands of rupees have to be spent on interior design and fit-out in the office. An initial investment of Rs 8 to 20 lakh may be required to set up an initial office space. Apart from this, there is a cost in making office chairs. Initial investment is required in setting up electricity, lights, storeroom etc. A lump sum is spent on providing laptops etc. to all employees. These expenses must be paid not every month, but in one lump sum.

How much does it cost to work from home?
The biggest expense that will be saved by working from home is transportation. Companies have to transport their employees somewhere, either to the office or drive them home from the office. For example, if a person works in an IT company, he or she must be brought from home by taxi and then brought back after the shift is over. This will save direct expenses in working from home. Apart from this, thousands will be saved in electricity and maintenance bill of the office. Instead of an office with a capacity of 200 people, an office with a capacity of 100 people or even less will be needed. This way companies can run their business at less than half this cost.

What is the problem with working from home?
Depending on the expenses, companies will save thousands but companies do not consider this to be entirely true. Companies believe that there is no coordination among employees, which leads to poor quality of work. Staff at home are more involved in providing food.

Lack of team leadership and collaboration: While working from home, seamless face-to-face communication is not possible between team members. This affects team cohesion and discussion of new ideas.

Monitoring and discipline: Despite digital media, companies feel that employees remain more disciplined in the office environment. There is a fear that the pace of work will slow down due to being busy with household chores and other things at home.

Expensive investment in infrastructure: Companies have invested millions of rupees on resources like rent of office floors, parking and high-speed internet. If employees are working from home, this huge investment seems wasted.

Data security: The risk of corporate data and sensitive information being leaked is higher on unsecured home networks. Setting up IT and security guards in the office reduces these risks.

Work culture and mentoring: People in the office get a chance to learn new things, which increases the working ability of employees. It is not possible to train junior employees to lead a team in working from home. Professional grooming is difficult through digital means.

Communication and team spirit: The office culture that is created through casual conversations, tea and coffee breaks and working together is completely destroyed in working from home.