When COVID-19 began in India, the very first workforce to go for the work from the home norm was the MNC employee. Weeks before the lockdown was announced most of these multinational companies in India ensured their employees were working from the comfort of their homes. It wasn’t as difficult but at the same time, it was easy too. Shiva Samudrala, a Transaction Investigator from Amazon shared his journey about the perks of working from home but at the same time having to deal with a whole set of new challenges.
Credits: Dhanush
Shiva said, “Around February 2020, my office announced that we all have to work from home. We were clueless as to why was it happening since many cases weren’t reported. Before this happened, we used to make fun of someone if they coughed or sneezed labelling it as COVID.”
“During the initial stages, we were happy to work from home since we saved a lot of time travelling. I used to spend three hours in the Hyderabad traffic when I had to go to the office. I was also happy that I could eat homemade food rather than eating from the office every day,” he added.
A lot of things have otherwise changed for MNC employees, from work place environment to peer communication. Shiva mentioned, “My role at my workplace is as a Transaction Investigator and it involves solving cases like solving puzzles every day. There is a lot of decision-making processes involved in this work. I have to evaluate buyer-seller profile and a lot of thinking process happens over there. Before when we used to work at the office when I doubted any decision I used to confirm with my peers or my seniors in the department for few cases but since work from home started, I didn’t know if I could contact them because they could be on a break, leave or a different shift. There was this confusion if I should call or message them. Sometimes the response came after long so it made work difficult.”
One most common barrier is communication with the team members since work from home began. To this, he added, “Many people joined the team after the lockdown when working from home was normalised. To be frank I just know the names of the new employees and I have never interacted with them much. It has been 6 months and we just discuss and meet only for important cases that too online.”
“During the meeting, we don’t turn the cameras on since many people aren’t comfortable. Cameras are switched on only during fun activities or important meetings. Another major thing was that I had a lack of communication with my manager as well. Two managers had changed since one of them was promoted and the other got placed at another company in a different country. So, there was a gap that affected our work,” said Shiva.
He even shared that in the virtual environment, the task is put in the group and one of them has to take up the work. There is no personal connection with the manager. “At the office, we were able to work together because my seniors understood what task I was good at and what task I could do,” he added.
Shiva expressed that this period of lockdown and work from home did help him connect with his family unlike before. It was one of the most important advantages of the lockdown. “Initially I was happy to work from home. I had never spent so much time with my family before lockdown. Since childhood, the time spent was only during the summer holidays. During working at the office for one year I felt disconnected from my family. My father used to see me on week offs since he owns a business and he used to come late at night. I also learnt new skills and enrolled for online courses at the same time of work from home,” he said.
However, the shift to working from home wasn’t easy. Shiva said. “It became stressful and difficult because sometimes I was not able to reach my target. My routine also changed during this period. Earlier, I used to go to the gym and since work from home started, I have gained a lot of weight. I used to feel helpless and stressed about working and talking to my colleagues through the system and I ended up feeling that I was conversing with the computer only.”
The change in the work environment being shifted home also reduced the possibility of building bonds with colleagues and seniors. “At least when we went to the office I used to talk to my colleagues, go for lunch with them or coffee breaks. We also used to have potluck, parties, and fun activities in person. We even celebrated various festivals in the office which is not happening now. During the lockdown, I didn’t even realise it’s a festival until I was wished. There was more community interaction when working at the office unlike now,” added Shiva.
He even shared his daily routine went for a toss and added, “I am a morning person but during the work from home my shift was in the evening. My circadian rhythm changed completely at this time. I was not able to cope up with the change. I was sometimes sleeping on the laptop unlike in the office where we communicate with others or take a coffee break to not dose.”
Before his morning shift currently, Shiva mentioned, “At home, during the breaks, I put an alarm for 30 minutes and then wake up. I suffered from insomnia symptoms and was on sleeping tablets eventually. Since my shift was from 5 PM to 2 AM it would take time for me to sleep and sleeping in the morning was difficult because my parents would watch the news, my mom would do puja and be in the same house I cannot ask them not to do anything. They adjusted a lot for me but I cannot ask them for more.”
However, things are slowly changing again with people being called to work at the office and another transition is taking place. Shiva said, “We have been asked to be ready to come back to the office. There might be a hybrid model like 3 days in the office and 2 days from home. But they are also keeping the current situation in mind. But now I am habituated to work from home.”
Listen to Shiva's tale here:
Credits: Ananya Mariam Rajesh
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