Abstract

The case ‘Kerala Government’s ‘Work Near Home’ Model: Reimagining the Workspace’ describes the holistic initiative of the Kerala government to create a win-win scenario for the government, businesses, and employees at large during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case first describes the idea behind the ‘work near home’ (WNH) model that arose after the government found that employee productivity had dropped after two-three months of the employees working from home. The case then looks at how the government with support from IT Parks-Kerala designed and implemented a network of virtual and physical WNH co-working spaces across the state. The case also looks at how this model offered an alternate ecosystem to people through effective utilization of physical assets like hotels, engineering colleges, tourist homes and resorts, commercial buildings, and unoccupied houseboats which were lying idle owing to the pandemic. The case ends with a brief focus on the government’s Fiber Optic Network (K-FON) project and how the WNH model could be a first step toward discovering the nature of the new office space in post-COVID times.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the benefits of a flexible work environment
• Learn about the importance of employee productivity
• Learn about alternatives to traditional office work spaces
• Become aware of the need to design holistic development models for socio-economic growth
• Understand the need for innovative reforms in work-related policies

Keywords

Work From Home; Remote Working; Employee Productivity; Flexible work environment; Economic Development; Employment; Private-Public Partnerships; Government and Society