Pandemic has brought about a mindset change on remote working, says CII President

Jobs can be relocated to rural areas where living standards are better, says Sridhar Vembu

T.V. Narendran, President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and CEO and Managing Director, Tata Steel Ltd., said the pandemic has brought about a mindset change that people can work remotely.

“Jobs can go to people instead of people going towards jobs. New age manufacturing plants are today run remotely,” he said at the opening plenary session of the Conference “South India@75 - Journey from Traditional to New Age Economy” organised by CII, Southern Region, in Chennai on Wednesday.

Mr. Narendran said legacy organisations such as Tata Steel did not see technology as a threat but as an opportunity. He said the private sector could only supplement and support the government in creating opportunities and initiatives in building rural India as the migrants who moved back to their hometown prefer to look at jobs closer to their homes.

In his address, C.K. Ranganathan, Chairman, CII Southern Region and CMD, CavinKare Ltd, said the digital revolution was making many jobs obsolete even though the pace of transition had not been quick enough.

CII Southern Region, celebrating 75 years, represented both traditional and new gen companies with the mandate and role to help members navigate to the new age economy making them globally competitive, he said.

Jobs can be relocated to rural areas as living standards were getting better and quality of life was far better when compared to metros, Sridhar Vembu, Founder & CEO of Zoho Corporation Pvt. Ltd., said in response to a question from Mr. Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII.

In her concluding remarks, Ms. Suchitra K. Ella, Deputy Chairperson, CII Southern Region & Co-Founder & Joint Managing Director, Bharat Biotech International Ltd, stressed on the importance of research & development saying competition was not from India but from the world.