Inflation woes? Work from home

Notwithstanding providing frequent salary hikes, the employers can consider to set off the impact of spiralling prices on their employees by promoting 'tele-commuting' by allowing their staff to work from home.

"Companies in India should seriously explore the option of tele-commuting as a means to curb transportation inflation so that their staff can work from home, besides spending scarce quality time with the family," said Samhita Rao, MD of Grass Roots Indian, a Gurgaon-based performance management company.

This is relevant for many knowledge industries like insurance, media, finance, training and instructional design, public relations, sales, marketing and many other sectors, Rao added.

She said this can easily be done with modern technological aids like computers and e-mails, telephones and web-conferencing, once the security aspects are sorted out.

"With the spurt in costs of car maintenance and petrol prices touching Rs 50 a litre, many employees are considering to shift their workplaces near home," said an executive working for a head-hunting firm in Noida.

He said his company has already helped many IT and finance professionals to shift from metro to small towns, and was also helping the companies to devise strategies to retain talent.

Many IT companies in Noida and Gurgaon have complained that they are under pressure to revise monthly conveyance billing by 10-15 per cent after the increase in fuel prices last week.

Consequently, some companies have begun to save on fuel costs by allowing some of their employees to work from home while allowing others flexi-timing.

Commenting on the impact of rising petrol prices on trading, Confederation of All India Traders' President Praveen Khandelwal said: "Efforts should be made to use only one car for all practical purposes, be it for going office or for shopping."

The office goers should opt for a co-operative cab system under which neighbours or people going in one direction can use one car on turn-by-turn basis. In the same fashion, people in one office can pool one vehicle -- be it a bus or LMV -- for their to and fro needs, he added.

Companies could also encourage carpooling by their employees and they should take initiative to bring together employees who live in the same area, Rao said.

"This is not only beneficial for the staff but also helps in cutting down the transportation cost which lead to less consumption of oil reflecting corporations' concern for environment," she said.

Inflation, the silent killer