Bengaluru

Manyata Tech Park

Marathahalli

IT firm

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If people reach their work place early and reach home on time, they have ample time to de-stress or indulge in other activities of their choice.” – Dr Bhupendra Chaubey

By Reya MehrotraCrippling traffic is forcing many techies to switch to early morning shiftsWe’ve all grown up on the proverb, ‘the early bird catches the worm.’ If this proverb were to be re-imagined for 2019, it would be ‘the early bird does not get stuck in traffic.’ Ask Greeshma P, 39, a techie who travels to work every day from her house nearto ORR near Marathahalli. She’s up at the crack of dawn at 4 am, even before the sun has signed in for the day. Her office cab picks her up at 4.40 am and she’s swiping in at work at 5.20 am. Explains Greeshma, “I’ve always been a late riser. However, after I started working in, I realised that I would spend 1.5 to 2 hours stuck in traffic. What’s worse is that I would have to repeat the drill in the evening. This was when my colleague suggested that I do the early morning shift. This shift has some advantages that it gives me a better work-life balance. I’m home by 3.30 pm and have the rest of the day for myself. And it has reduced my travel time by 2 hours, to and from office.”Moira Shah (name changed), another IT professional who stays in Jakkur, has changed her shift timings to early morning to avoid being stuck in traffic. She says, “I have been working in anin Kadubeesanahalli since 2016 and I started with the 9 to 5 shift. It would take me around two to three hours to reach office. But in 2017, I decided to change to the morning shift and leave home at 5.30 am. Since then, I’m at work in 40 minutes by cab. I am a mother to a toddler and I’d rather spend time with her than spend time in traffic. Crossing the road outside my office would take me about 15 to 20 minutes due to the never-ending traffic."With many professionals living far away from work, with travel times that vary from 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours, some companies have allowed flexi times but with some rules. Says Amith Nair, who works for a clothing-to-cellular network conglomerate, “ We don’t have a particular swipe-in time. But it’s mandatory for employees to be at work between 11 am and 3 pm, so that inter- and intra-department interactions are possible.”Shankar Prasad, CEO of SnaxSmart located in HSR Layout says, “I live in JP Nagar, 1st Phase and it used to take me 45 minutes to an hour to travel to work every day and even more on the way back during peak hours. So a year ago we changed our work timings from 6 am to 3 pm. It now takes me 15-20 minutes to reach work. We have 30 employees in our firm and everyone is happy with this arrangement as it means avoiding the Bengaluru traffic.” Some of them say that they get a good siesta after returning from work.Priyanka Ullal, IT professional who stays in Yelahanka says, “I've been travelling to Marathahalli for work for three years now. Previously, it was a general shift and I would start at 6.30 am to reach office by 9 am. So I started to swipe into work at 5.30 am two years ago. Now it only takes an hour and I can spare time for myself. Earlier it was only traffic and work but now I have some quality time for myself.”Amal Padmanabhan, resident of Marathahalli who works in a Bellandur-based IT firm says, “Most of the IT firms are located at Silk Board or KR Puram and yet no priority has been given to Metro construction here. There are no alternate roads that one can take. This city has grown without a plan and it's taking a toll on all of us.”Dr Bhupendra Chaudhry, psychiatrist at Manipal Hospital says, “I have been advising a number of people to do the same or to live as close to the work place as possible.Long hours in traffic can cause stress, which causes a slowdown in productivity, which leads to low job satisfaction. If people reach their work place early and reach home on time, they have ample time to de-stress or indulge in other activities of their choice.”