While today is an extended holiday for many employees in the IT sector in Bangalore, it is not a total shutdown across India.
In Bangalore, IT majors that include Wipro, Oracle, Texas Instruments and Infosys have declared a holiday today. They will be working on Saturday to compensate for this unexpected holiday due to the Bharat bandh.
However, companies like Tata Consultancy Service and Microsoft have not declared a holiday. Other companies like Hewlett-Packard have asked employees to work from home.
"The holiday on a Monday will not affect work much as we are working on another day. However, those who had deadlines to meet may suffer. Many people are enjoying this extended holiday and have even gone out of station," says a software engineer.
"Wipro has always had the practice of giving a holiday on an unexpected situation and allowing us working to work on a Saturday. Work may not get affected as much since we will be working on another day. I am really happy that I am not forced to work today as we never know how safe it will be to go out on a bandh day," said a Wipro employee.
Microsoft India spokesperson in Gurgaon said he managed to reach the office and Monday is one of the important days with meetings. He said it is too early to comment on attendance.
A TCS employee in Hyderabad said, "I will try to reach the office as it is not a holiday. My project manager has already reached and I hope I will be able to make it. Those who value their safety more than work, will take a leave today."
Kolkata's IT sector was not wholly affected by the bandh. In Tata Consultancy Services, a special bus was arranged by the company for employees handling critical projects. Those in other projects took off today and decided to make up for the loss by working on the next Saturday.
In other IT offices in the city, employers either spent the night in their respective offices or reached office in the wee hours. Till 11 am, the total attendance in the IT sector was about 45 per cent.
Image: Wipro office
