During the COVID period, employees of IT firms worked from home, and this continued for a couple of years. Later, companies slowly started calling back their employees to the office, but continued their hybrid work policy.

In May last year, Infosys made it mandatory for its employees to work from the office for 10 days a month. TCS has also made WFO compulsory for its employees for all five days.

Wipro has now mandated that employees should be in the office for six hours when they are working from the office.

CIEL HR MD and CEO Aditya Narayan Mishra said over the last two years, IT firms have moved in a calibrated manner, from optional office attendance to defined hybrid norms. What began as a few anchor days and limited hours has evolved into longer in-office presence on designated days. The intent has not been to reverse flexibility, but to bring more structure and predictability to how teams work together.

The shift from shorter to longer in-office hours is driven by practical experience. Leaders realised that very limited office time restricts meaningful collaboration. "Six hours allows teams to move beyond transactional meetings to deeper problem-solving, mentoring and cross-functional discussions, outcomes that are harder to replicate in a fragmented workday," he said.

According to him, a complete return to five-day work-from-office is unlikely for most IT organisations. Both employers and employees have seen tangible benefits of hybrid models, better talent access, improved retention and sustained output. The future is more likely to be a refined hybrid structure rather than a blanket mandate. In several organisations, a nine-hour in-office day is already becoming standard on the days employees are required to come in. "This does not automatically translate into more days in office. Companies are focusing on maximising the effectiveness of in-office days rather than increasing overall physical presence," he added.