Key points
- Wipro mandates minimum 6-hour office stay on work-from-office days, measured between entry and exit punches
- Employees must work from office at least 3 days per week, affecting 234,000 employees globally
- Non-compliance results in leave deductions, half-day leave cut for spending fewer than 6 hours in office
- Annual temporary remote work days reduced from 15 to 12 for personal health, illness, or caregiving
- Total working hours remain 9.5 hours, with remaining hours to be completed from home
- Policy change driven by IT industry’s sluggish growth and AI disrupting traditional delivery models
- TCS mandates 5 days/week with 85% attendance threshold for full variable pay
- Infosys requires 10 office days/month for employees at job level 5 and below
IT services giant Wipro has revised its office work policy, implementing stricter checks for employees. The new rules require employees to stay in the office at least six hours. Wipro is currently following a hybrid work model under which employees are mandated to work from the office at least three days in a week. The Bengaluru-based company, which employs approximately 234,000 people, introduced the updated policy, effective January 1, 2026.
Although the requirement to attend the office three days a week has been in effect for some time, the stipulation of a six-hour minimum stay, measured between entry and exit punches, is a new element of the company’s hybrid work framework in India. This move represents one of the strictest attendance policies among India’s top IT firms.
Stricter monitoring and leave deductions
Employees who do not meet the weekly attendance requirement will see their leaves being deducted accordingly. Additionally, those who spend fewer than six hours in the office on a mandated day will see a half-day leave deduction, according to an ET report. This creates a direct financial impact, as Wipro’s leave policy is linked to employees’ salary structure.
Wipro will continue to allow for temporary remote working, but the allowable number of such days has been reduced to 12 from 15 in a calendar year. These days can be used for personal health needs, illness, or caregiving responsibilities. The reduction in remote work allowance reflects the company’s push for greater physical presence while still maintaining some flexibility for genuine personal needs.
Internal communication and policy rationale
Communicating the changes through a recent internal email, the company said hybrid work remains central to its future workplace strategy. “We trust all associates will follow the policy in both letter and spirit as it supports collaboration across teams while providing flexibility,” the email reportedly said.
The communication also clarified that the six-hour requirement refers only to the minimum duration of office presence and not the total daily working time, which continues to be 9.5 hours. Employees are expected to complete the remaining working hours from home on the same day and ensure delivery of assigned tasks. This clarification aims to address concerns about work-life balance while maintaining productivity standards.
Industry context and AI disruption
The changes to work from office rules come as the $283 billion information technology industry faces sluggish topline growth, with the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence beginning to erode its traditional people-led delivery model. According to industry experts, increasingly tight project schedules and the need for closer coordination have pushed technology companies to scale back remote work and emphasise in-person collaboration.
“Earlier, applications used to be rolled out every two or three years. Now, the way software is designed and coded is different, with applications being rolled out in as little as eight weeks. So, with upgrades getting faster, people have to collaborate and work much quicker, which makes remote working inefficient,” said Guruprasad Srinivasan, executive director at staffing firm Quess Corp.
He added that while routine, process-driven activities such as accounting, data handling and legal services can still be carried out independently, product development and project execution, often referred to as transformational work, require teams to be physically present to improve turnaround time and output quality.
Indian IT sector’s work-from-office rules
India’s largest IT services provider, Tata Consultancy Services, introduced a five-day-a-week office attendance policy last year. The framework allows employees to work from home for two days a month in case of health-related issues. It has also tied variable compensation to office attendance, with full payouts applicable for attendance above 85%, reduced payouts for lower levels, and no variable pay for attendance below 60%.
Although TCS mandates a nine-hour workday at the office, its monitoring system sends alerts only when an employee’s office presence falls short of four hours. This makes Wipro’s six-hour minimum more stringent than its larger rival’s policy.
Infosys, the country’s second-largest IT firm with a staff strength exceeding 300,000, announced its return-to-office policy on November 20, 2023. Under the policy, employees at job level 5 and below are required to work from the office for at least 10 days each month. This translates to roughly 50% office attendance, making Wipro’s three-day mandate relatively more flexible in terms of days but stricter in terms of daily hours.
Employee impact and industry trends
The policy changes reflect a broader industry shift toward office-centric work models. Wipro’s move is particularly significant given its large employee base of 234,000 people, many of whom have grown accustomed to hybrid work since the pandemic. The six-hour minimum requirement means employees must plan their commutes and personal schedules more carefully to avoid losing leave balances.
Industry analysts predict that other mid-tier IT companies may follow Wipro’s lead in implementing stricter attendance monitoring. The focus on physical presence is also seen as a way to justify large office real estate investments made by these companies in major cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune.
Latest updates and employee response
As of January 2026, Wipro employees have begun adjusting to the new rules, with some reporting challenges in meeting the six-hour requirement due to traffic and commute times in cities like Bengaluru. The company has reportedly set up a helpdesk to address policy-related queries and is monitoring compliance through its attendance management system.
The policy has sparked discussions on professional networking platforms, with some employees questioning the need for such strict monitoring when productivity metrics have remained strong under hybrid models. However, company leadership maintains that in-person collaboration is essential for innovation and client engagement in the current market environment.
