Views from Mr Subramanyam Sreenivasaiah – founder and CEO of AscentHR, a tech leader in Human Capital Industry on the impact of COVID 19 on HRs and expectations from the government.

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  • Impact of COVID-19 on HR vertical

It has hampered the way industry vertical on Services we work as an IT / ITES firm ( H R Software / Services). It has changed the landscape of the work area pushing it to a new paradigm. Redefining methods of work particularly when you are bound by several standards of Information Security / Process Controls / Application controls in a short span of time is a burden on the industry. It was not geared up and had to cope with it.

  • Impact on their business operations, how much losses they incurred?

As Indian enterprises, we did enjoy the twin arbitrage of costs of manpower as well as technology and were able to price the services competitively. The changed methods of operation have increased costs and would hit the bottom line possibly flattening the margins, increasing pressure on working capital

  • Demands from the government in view of the stimulus on the economy?

We seek the following reliefs given the situation may extend to at least a quarter

(a) Increased banking limits without any additional demand on collaterals presuming a 3 month period – 20% increase in cash credit or OD limits
(b) Provide a soft loan for employee payments during this period or like western countries, provide government grants against such payments up to 80% of the quantum

  • Impact on the jobs in the sector?

There is likely to be a freeze on recruitments across industry and employment numbers will not improve in the next two quarters

  • In light of the current situation created by COVID-19 and the resultant ” social distancing ” phase, will companies genuinely rethink the way things traditionally get done

I don’t think so, employers will continue to operate as they did before once the situation returns to normalcy. The reason is the cost of operation in this way is much lesser than the remote working way. You will need a highly motivated employee who is fully trained independently without any assistance or support to operate in remote working which escalates the cost of hire or cost of an employee. Hence not viable

  • The long term impact of COVID-19 on the Future of work and HCM. How companies/HR heads should use next-gen HCM to ensure such disruptors do not impact work and build in systems and processes to ensure work productivity is not hampered while taking into account employee wellbeing

Increasingly employer scope of responsibility is on the increase. Employee well being and healthcare is not any more limited to benefits laid down under the law. Wherever any benefit is seen as employee-friendly and beneficial, it is just passed over as employer responsibility without boundaries. The next-gen HCM should consider several such elements as Productivity, Organisational culture, e-Learning, Self-motivated workforce etc.. and we are working towards making these as part of our solution enhancing utility and seamless work ways meeting the legal requirements and at the same time preparing for the new paradigm.

Corporate Comm India (CCI Newswire)