Volvo India asks employees to work from home. EDIT: Other car companies too

TusharK · 17th March 2020, 16:30

Volvo has asked its employees in India to work from home as a safety measure to prevent the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Volvo India asks employees to work from home. EDIT: Other car companies too-2018volvoxc4001.jpg

However, access to the office remains open for those who prefer to work from office. They can do so by informing their respective managers.

Additional sanitation measures have been taken to ensure hygiene at office premises. Employees have also been asked to maintain social distancing and refrain from attending public events. The company has urged its workforce to remain calm, stay informed through credible sources, maintain personal hygiene and seek medical assistance, if required.

To limit the exposure of employees to the virus, Volvo has already suspended all domestic and international travel. Visits to the site office are also suspended.

Volvo has also set guidelines for dealers to ensure the cars that visit workshops and demo cars are properly cleaned before next use. Besides, all demo cars will have hand sanitizers on-board.

Link to Team-BHP News

wheelguy · 17th March 2020, 17:27

After Tata Motors, M&M asks 7000 employees to work from home till 31st March - Link

Ford asks 10,000 employees in India to work from home - Link

GTO · 18th March 2020, 10:38

Good move

. The critical stuff, emails, calls, video conferences etc. can all be easily completed from home.

Am worried about the factory staff though. One cannot build cars at home, and car companies will be reluctant to shut down factories due to their enormous fixed costs. As always, it is the economically-weaker sections of the society which is the most vulnerable.

Surprised that neither Maruti nor Hyundai have announced anything yet. They should lead by example.

wheelguy · 18th March 2020, 11:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO

Surprised that neither Maruti nor Hyundai have announced anything yet. They should lead by example.

Apart from them, Honda, Toyota, and Kia are yet to take the call, while a total of 25 thousand executives from Tata, M&M, Fiat, Volvo, VW, MG, and Ford were asked to work from home.

Sad that only employees having desk jobs were asked to work from home while the factory workers had to continue their work as usual.

Quote:

The leaders Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor and rivals Honda Cars India, Toyota Kirloskar, Kia Motors have all taken precautionary measures but are yet to take a call on work from home.

Source

Turbanator · 18th March 2020, 22:52

BMW Group to halt production.

https://m.engineeringnews.co.za/arti...18/rep_id:4433

GTO · 19th March 2020, 09:55

Thanks to a Team-BHP Fan (who prefers to stay anonymous) for sending this information in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP page!

Quote:

I read the above statement from GTO. Similar to building cars, one cannot design cars from home. Would like to point out that even the designers who work on CAD data, drawing releases, digital vehicle mock-up etc. are coming to office as everyone has to work on a desktop and the company laptops cannot handle that kind of data. This is a considerable number of people.

Stribog · 19th March 2020, 10:54

Broadly speaking though, I hope Corona ushers in a revolution of the type in working hours and timings that we saw in the 1915-19 period resulting in the Hours of Work (Industry) Convention 1919 of the ILO.

It is archaic for many industries and work types to even go to a fixed office space and work a fixed 8 hour schedule. All one (in many many job types) needs is a laptop or even just a mobile with email access.

Heck, in many lines of work even email is being replaced by Whatsapp and Wechat (for China focussed businesses). The cost savings these companies can have is substantial. Maybe have only half the office space and have 50% work alternate days if 'espirit de corps' is the concern.

17th March 2020, 16:30	#1
TusharK Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2017 Location: Pune Posts: 6,931 Thanked: 61,103 Times	Volvo India asks employees to work from home. EDIT: Other car companies too Volvo has asked its employees in India to work from home as a safety measure to prevent the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). However, access to the office remains open for those who prefer to work from office. They can do so by informing their respective managers. Additional sanitation measures have been taken to ensure hygiene at office premises. Employees have also been asked to maintain social distancing and refrain from attending public events. The company has urged its workforce to remain calm, stay informed through credible sources, maintain personal hygiene and seek medical assistance, if required. To limit the exposure of employees to the virus, Volvo has already suspended all domestic and international travel. Visits to the site office are also suspended. Volvo has also set guidelines for dealers to ensure the cars that visit workshops and demo cars are properly cleaned before next use. Besides, all demo cars will have hand sanitizers on-board. Link to Team-BHP News Last edited by TusharK : 17th March 2020 at 16:43.
	(7) Thanks

17th March 2020, 17:27	#2
wheelguy BANNED Join Date: Jul 2019 Location: Earth Posts: 1,750 Thanked: 8,893 Times	re: Volvo India asks employees to work from home. EDIT: Other car companies too After Tata Motors, M&M asks 7000 employees to work from home till 31st March - Link Ford asks 10,000 employees in India to work from home - Link
	(5) Thanks

18th March 2020, 10:38	#3
GTO Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 72,058 Thanked: 313,852 Times View My Garage	re: Volvo India asks employees to work from home. EDIT: Other car companies too Good move . The critical stuff, emails, calls, video conferences etc. can all be easily completed from home. Am worried about the factory staff though. One cannot build cars at home, and car companies will be reluctant to shut down factories due to their enormous fixed costs. As always, it is the economically-weaker sections of the society which is the most vulnerable. Surprised that neither Maruti nor Hyundai have announced anything yet. They should lead by example.
	(8) Thanks

18th March 2020, 22:52	#5
Turbanator Team-BHP Support Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Gurgaon Posts: 7,106 Thanked: 30,451 Times	Re: Volvo India asks employees to work from home. EDIT: Other car companies too BMW Group to halt production. https://m.engineeringnews.co.za/arti...18/rep_id:4433
	(3) Thanks

19th March 2020, 10:54	#7
Stribog BHPian Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Chennai Posts: 824 Thanked: 3,452 Times	Re: Volvo India asks employees to work from home. EDIT: Other car companies too Broadly speaking though, I hope Corona ushers in a revolution of the type in working hours and timings that we saw in the 1915-19 period resulting in the Hours of Work (Industry) Convention 1919 of the ILO. It is archaic for many industries and work types to even go to a fixed office space and work a fixed 8 hour schedule. All one (in many many job types) needs is a laptop or even just a mobile with email access. Heck, in many lines of work even email is being replaced by Whatsapp and Wechat (for China focussed businesses). The cost savings these companies can have is substantial. Maybe have only half the office space and have 50% work alternate days if 'espirit de corps' is the concern.
	(1) Thanks