Flipkart Ends Work-from-Home, Mandates 5-Day Office Return Amid Quick Commerce Push:

E-commerce giant Flipkart, which is owned by Walmart, has officially ended the work-from-home (WFH) policy and now requires employees from all divisions to come to the office daily for a full 5-day work week. This change comes after the company had been rolling back some post-COVID flexibility over the pandemic and firmly cements the company’s return to pre-COVID ways of working.

The adjustment will be done gradually over the coming months. While it applies to everyone, some allowances may be made depending on certain positions. Moreover, some Work From Home days will still be allocated for personal use.

Company Emphasizes Teamwork and Culture

According to the company, this change is meant to improve inter-employee collaboration as well as help build a stronger community in the firm. The company representative mentioned that a large percentage of its field employees and gig economy workers were already operating remotely from prescribed locations during the pandemic.

“In our corporate headquarters, we’ve gradually increased office presence over the past year. We observe increasing team collaboration and the working towards shared goals in the office,” the spokesperson explained.

Flipkart Implements Company-Wide Return to Office Policy

This policy brings Flipkart in line with other companies in the sector who have already adopted a ‘work from office’ policy. Amazon India, Flipkart's closest competitor, has also recently put a five-day-a-week office attendance policy into place and is moving to a bigger office in Devanahalli, Bengaluru. So has Meesho, Blinkit, Zepto, who have all returned to full-time in-office work.

Only Swiggy is still operating under a flexible approach where most employees work from the office three days a week and remotely for two. Some teams, however, are required to be in the office full-time.

Rapid E-commerce Competition and Proposed IPOs Coming Up

Flipkart’s work from office policy comes at a time when it is looking to strengthen its foothold within the quickly expanding rapid e-commerce sector. Competing with Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart, the company is positioning itself as the fourth major player in the sector.

The company plans to go public soon, which also looks to have impacted the focus on tighter control of operations, teamwork, and integration of company culture.