Companies log off, employees scurry home

Companies log off, employees scurry home
Deccan Herald

Many IT companies logged off in panic, as unabated rains triggered fears of flooding and traffic jams in the city on Tuesday. Those working in the outskirts, in areas like Electronic City, Whitefield and Sarjapur Road, were perhaps the first to pack and leave, some as early as 2 pm.

Many corporates like Accenture at Marathahalli went into ‘evacuation’ mode, instructing its employees to vacate the office premises by 5 pm. Notices were given to all employees to leave their contact details behind before leaving.

Meanwhile, Infoscions jostled for space at the over-crowded BMTC shuttle that left Electronics City at 3 pm, one of the earlier departures of the day. According to Surya, an Infosys employee, many opted to leave after they heard rumours that all shuttle operations will be closed by late evening. However, bus service continued to operate into the night at Infosys. At Sap Labs, in Whitefield, bosses did not frown when subordinates requested an early leave. “There were no specific instructions given by the organisation, but employees left on their own,” said Lokesh Tripathy, a software engineer at Sap Labs.

At the IBM office on Airport Road, it was the sight of choked traffic that made employees take out their vehicle keys. “Though we are on safe ground as far as flooding is concerned, the traffic looked so chaotic that we decided to leave early,” explained Dinesh, an IBM employee.

For call centre executives like Rachna of Progeon, shifts turned longer as they were told to be ready for their pick-up an hour before schedule.