Bengaluru: Talk about a captive audience! If you thought you could catch up on your forty winks on the endless commute to the office, think again! Especially if you are on an Infosys paycheque!
The IT giant has installed wifi in most of their buses so that employees are on the clock, the minute they step on to the bus.
Given the city's notorious gridlock, and productive time lost during long hours of sitting in traffic, with some rides to office taking as long as two hours one-way, the country's second largest software exporter installing wifi in most of the long distance buses enables employees to work from the bus.
With a majority of the buses converted into 2+2 seaters, the buses are more spacious and comfortable for employees. In fact, the long commute has thrown productivity as well as deadlines for projects and productivity for a toss, and increased the attrition rate.
The move to incorporate travel time into the working day is part of the IT firms' innovative HR and management solutions to stop the slide.
The counter view: This is the solution!
There's one man who doesn't see this as a solution to any of the city's ills.
Says Sanjeev V Dyamannavar, urban expert and member of Praja RAAG advocacy group: "This initiative has come about because the authorities have failed to solve the traffic mess. Converting buses from 3+2 to 2+2 seaters means that there will now be additional buses on the roads and this is all because the government is unable to provide us better public transport like BMTC buses, commuter rail or a full-fledged metro."
