No off for voting, client needs come first, say companies

Hyderabad: Techies and employees of IT/ITeS services sector that works all 24 hours of the day are set to miss out on the voting experience this time around as many companies have not declared a holiday on November 30, polling day.

While some companies have given employees the option to work from home, many from other districts say that it would not be helpful as there would be insufficient time for them to travel home and return.

Officials at the managerial level said that an off could not be given in essential service companies, like those maintaining servers, and in cases where client requirements necessitate employees be present.

“BPOs and US-based companies have strict policies not to allot mass leaves. They need to work as per client requirements, irrespective of festivals like Dasara, Diwali and Pongal,” a manager said.

Arjun Kumar, an MNC employee, said: “They (management) have asked us to opt for work from home. We can take a break to cast our vote.”

Ashwin Jaiswal, a software developer, said, “My company has declared a holiday. Companies should make sure that their employees cast their votes, and not to treat it as a holiday.”

Ravikanth, with the human resources wing in a private firm, said: “The client companies are US and Europe-based. The line of business will be keen on delivery. There are instances when the city was shut because of agitations, but employees were still asked to work. In a global scenario, we have to prepare for such things.”

Suryanarayana Reddy, MD of Smart n Code Technologies, said, “There are essential services in the IT and IT related industries. For example, these are server-based services. They cannot shut the server, as even election surveillance and other communications are attached to this. People in essential services can be exempted, but, otherwise, there should be a strict order for a holiday to enable voting.”