Wipro has joined peers TCS and Infosys in reducing the number of hours that employees can work from home — a scenario that had become the norm after the outbreak of the Covid pandemic three years ago.

The country’s fourth largest IT service provider has asked its employees globally to work for at least three days a week in office from November 15.

While TCS has directed its staff to be at the office all five days a week, Infosys has laid down a 10-day-a-month rule for some of its employees.

HCL Tech has also mandated its staff to come to work at least three days a week.

The development indicates that over some time technology firms may slowly end the hybrid work policy at least for a section of its employees, if not for the whole staff.

Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy courted controversy recently by urging young Indians to work 70 hours a week for the development of the country.

An email from Wipro’s president & chief human resources officer Saurabh Govil on November 6 said all employees must be present at their “assigned office’’ for at least three days each week.

More importantly, it added that employees who do not return to office could face action. The email did not give details on the punitive actions and Wipro’s spokesperson did not comment when asked.

The email also said that as a global organisation, the company will customise in-country adoption based on local legislation and agreements.

In some European countries, it may be necessary to consult with employee groups, the email said.

A Reuters report said Wipro which had 244,707 employees as of September 30, 2023, has been encouraging employees to work from the office thrice a week since May. About 55 per cent of its workforce is currently working from the office.

TCS in October asked its employees to work five days a week from the of office.

India’s No. 1 software services company had been following a hybrid model, where employees came to work for three days a week.

For the quarter ended September 30, 2023, Wipro had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,667.3 crore compared with Rs 2,649 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.