1. 1
Evolution of Workplace in India
Firmwide Research Projects FY2015
A study to map the changing Indian workplace

2. Firmwide Research Projects FY2015 | Evolution of Workplace in India | March, 2015
Team
Sailaja Vedula
Workplace + Consulting
Rajendra Prasad
Maanasa Ganesh
Kavya Kashyap
Arpita Ray
Abhishek Srinath
Disha Chanchani
Sonmoy Chatterjee
Principal Sponsor:
Practice Area:
Smita Gupta
Project Team:

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THE QUESTION
How has the Indian Workplace, specifically for the ‘services’ sector,
evolved over the years and what were the drivers of change?
The Indian workplace, specifically the ‘services’ sector, has largely been
a western typology that was introduced into India in the 1990’s with
little regard for the local context to draw from. It has evolved over time
but its evolution has been driven primarily by business factors such as
change in nature of business and real estate pressures and less from the
Indian cultural context.
There is a growing realization, presently, that a maturing, global Indian
workforce needs a workplace that speaks to their ethos and mores. The
challenge remains for designers to discover what this ‘Indianness’ is and
reflect it sensitively, appropriately and with vision in their designs. What
works elsewhere in the world may not work with the same degree of
effectiveness in India.
Focused, comprehensive information that specifically addresses socio-
cultural and economic factors that hence defined and influenced the
Indian workplace is not easily available. This study is an attempt to
map the changing Indian workplace.

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Goals & Objectives
Explore and map the
evolution of the Indian
workplace through the
significant phases in
its history
Garner a better
understanding of the
potential trajectory
of change and its
consequences on the
workplace
Help identify and
understand the driving
forces that could
potentially have an
impact on possible future
events or directions that
will affect our clients’
business or our business
Establish publishable
data and positions
that would make our
response to the Indian
workplace more effective
and appropriate
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2 3 4

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Methodology
Interviews
(structured & semi-structured),
questionnaires, workplace
observations, focus groups
Primary Data
Looking through
past and completed
projects to identify
patterns and ideas
around trends
Existing Literature Review
Secondary Data
Reviewed existing institutional
research, historical archives,
journals, white papers by peers,
partners and other sources
We relied on secondary data research to study the nature of work and workplaces down the ages, starting from pre-colonial India (1520) to the present. Our
focus was politics and State policy; trade, commerce and industry; demography and workforce; technology, urban infrastructure and workplace, as possible
drivers of evolution. In addition to our secondary research, an attempt was made to document some of the issues, cultural as well as infrastructural, that were
observed, typical to the Indian milieu.

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• Influence of Modernist Bauhaus with
concrete ‘Expressionism’
Politics &
State Policy
Demography
& Workforce
1520 - 1770 Precolonial Colonial Pre-Liberalization Post-Liberalization
• Mughal (Islamic) &
Maratha (Hindu) Empires
• Network of rulers and
landowners
• Seaborne Trade - Spices,
Sugar, Opium
• Population Resided in
Villages
• Coastal Cities Developed for
Maritime Trade
• British East India Company
Gains Dominance After
Defeating Marathas
• Exporter of Raw Materials
• Cotton Spinning, Weaving &
Jute Mills
• Cities Developed
• Cantonment
• Extensive Railway Network
• Indian Independence
• Modelled after Russian Socialism
• Post 1980 mild deregulation in key
sectors
• Emphasis of Public sector on
Infrastructure
• Private sector focus on consumer goods
• Slow ingress of women to workforce
• Post 1980 slight increase in global
awareness
• Early phase - Caste & Religion based
polarization - political & social turmoil.
• Coalition politics for most of this period.
• 1991 - Near Bankruptcy, 2nd round of
liberalization as part of IMF bailout
• IT Boom - flood of multinationals & global
service providers start BPO operations
• Larger mix of GenX (1965-70) and GenY (1980-
2000) in workforce
• Migration of workforce from Tier 2&3 towns to
ITeS hubs
• IT parks setup in urban periphery to cater to IT
enabled Services
• Modern curtainwall construction, larger column
-free floorplates
• BPO operations 100-60sft/person - focus on
housing the employee
• KPO operations 180-150 sft/person - focus on
employee
Trade, Commerce
& Industry
Technology
Urban Infrastructure
& Architecture
• Low Technology • Telephony controlled by State - low
penetration - 0.5 per 100
• B&W TV in 1965, color in 1982
• Manual typewriters
• 1995 - Internet & Mobile Telephony Introduced
• Fastest growing telecom market - 20x growth
from 2001 to 2011
• Male Dominated
• Caste Based
• Master-servant relationship
between owner -employee
• Small, Poorly Lit Space with
Low Seating and Low Table
• Predominantly open/partially
covered facilities
Workplace
• Space very basic, few creature comforts,
dense configuration
• Central AC in latter period
• Focus on housing employee
• No change in Demography
and Workforce
• Professional training colleges
started to take shape
• Largely Low Tech
• Telephone ,Typewriters
Introduced in Late 1940’s, in
elite workplaces
• Workspaces Largely
Unchanged
• Company Offices had Tables
& Chairs
1773 - 1946 1947 - 1990 1991 - 2015Findings

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Globalization and the modern
workplace have arrived in India
very recently and are driving
significant societal shifts. They
can be carefully leveraged for
desired changes in the inherent
culture with its positives and
negatives.
“India has gone
through more
changes in the past
20 years than most
countries witness
over a century.”
- Amit K. Nandkeolyar
Asst. Professor
Organizational Behavior
Indian School of Business
Perspectives

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• Segregation of veg/non-veg food is
important
• Seperate caterers
• Segregation in kitchen
HIerarchy Demography
• High power-distance ratio
• High degree of hierarchy
• Corner offices for senior
management
• More accomodating of
religious/cultural differences
• High focus on food services
• Meal consists of multiple items.
• Disposable dinnerware is usually
not acceptable
• Facility and services required for
dinnerware and stocking
• About 40% of Indians are
Vegetarian
• Seperate microwares for veg, non-
veg food
• Dedicated handwash sink for before
and after meals needs to be provided
(seperate from toilets)
Religion
Gender Food
• Only 15% of urban workforce
are women
• Toilet ratio is calculated at
40% female ratio
• Amenities like creche are provided
at the workplace
• Mothers room for nursing mothers
• Address need for security for
women in workplace
• Population boom from 1985-
now, 400 million people
• 60% Indians are under 35 and
50% under 25 years
• By 2020 the average Indian
will be 29yrs
• Multi-generational workforce
• Socio-economic and
culturally diverse workforce
• tremendous advance in
technology
• seperate timings for men/
women at gyms
• Need for modesty panels in
workstations.
• Leapfrogged through tremendous
adoption of technology
• Renewed focus on health and
wellness
India Today
• Prayer rooms provided for
employees of different faiths
• Seperate elvators for top
management
• high service levels for
C-suites
Hospitality TransportationLocation
Facility
• Higher degree of hospitality
observed for internal and external
meetings
• Infrastructure to be provided for food
preperation and service
• Business parks located away from
existing social infrastructure due
to unavailability of real estate and
associated cost
• Parking to be provided for buses,
cars & two wheelers
• Facilities/amenities for drivers
• Space in office for helmets
• Increased corporate attention on
sustainability and LEED
• Large floor plates: daylight
penetration, navigation critical
• Long and streneous commutes
• Somecompanies provide private bus
fleets to bus people in and out
• Arrival & departure amenities need
to be provided to enhance employee
experience
• Facilities used three times more -
greater wear and tear
• Under trained housekeeping staff
• Staff needed for clean-up of the
hospitality services. This includes
service pantries and space for the
service staff
• The supply of electricity and water
from the grid is not reliable.
• Rapid urbanization over last 20yrs has
not kept up with infrastructure
• All grade A and B office space have
independent power, water and often
sewage systems
• Special provision for focussed
work
• Learning and training activites
important for employee retention
• More collaborative -use
collaboration spaces effectively
• Quick to adopt to new
technology
Workstyles
• Teams are becoming more global
• Need easily reconfigurable spaces
• Explosion of local entrepreneuriship
• Demand for more work
flexibility
• Heavy dependency on the
phone as a communication tool
Findings

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THE RESULTS
Our research shows that the development of the Indian workplace has not been
linear. Historically, business was predominantly trade and its workplace was
reflective of its hierarchical character. Employer-employee relations were more
akin to the ‘master and servant’ relationship and this informed the nature of
workplace. Over the ages, Indias’ socio-culturally feudal to economically colonial
to now democratic political history effected various aspects of growth - from
trade and commerce to infrastructure.
India, once a prosperous, self-sufficient economy, faced a fatal blow to its
prosperity with the rise of the British East India Company in the mid-18th
century. Under colonial rule, India, followed a non-industrial model Post
independence in 1947, India slowly developed its industrial and manufacturing
base. Industrialization promised self-sufficiency. The liberalization in the regulatory
framework in the nineties, accelerated the growth of services sector. India’s
growing reliance on the service sector marks a watershed in the evolution of the
Indian economy. The workforce went from upper class male to a more diverse,
(albeit male dominated) , young, educated , multigenerational workforce that is
more demanding.
From zero technology in pre-colonial and colonial times, India’s technology
landscape can be characterized as having seen three waves of evolution and
growth - 1) outsourcing model based on labor cost arbitrage 2) small- and mid-
sized enterprises that emerged post liberalization and 3) digital entrepreneurship
. The rise of the service industry resulted in historically unprecedented rural-
urban migration motivated by the prospect of greater employment opportunities.
Infrastructure development has not been able to keep pace with the rapid
expansion of cities.
With the gradual shift to knowledge based work, keeping a higher quality
workforce engaged and motivated is imperative. Employee engagement and
satisfaction is affected by a variety of factors and a workplace that speaks to
one’s culture is essential. Employees view their workspace as a symbol of whether
or not they are valued by their employers. The space needs to respond to our
uniqueness to reflect solutions that come from within and that celebrate our
cultural differences and identity.

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The Future
A corporate office represents a physical
manifestation by which an organization and its
most important asset, namely, its employees are
cared for in an environment that is conducive for
productivity as well as good health and safety.
Connection between office design and business
performance is important and timely considering
the challenges in today’s environment that
range from competition for talent, rising salaries,
shrinking margins and real estate cost.
India is at cross-roads in balancing
development and the environment. A late
starter, India, has leap-frogged in terms of
development by not having to reinvent/redevelop
many stages of development that the developed
countries have gone through. The challenge
is for architects to be sensitive to the Indian
character and to reflect the cultural context in
their designs appropriately and with vision.
WHAT NEXT
India is a vast country with extreme variations
and a ‘one-size fits all’ would not do justice
to the multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-
generational workforce. We are proposing
to extend and conduct an in-depth study to
document and generate a primer that could be
used as a starting point while designing for India.