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1. Introduction
The sudden emergence of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic produced tremendous uncertainty around the world. The unforeseen circumstances not only affected the physical but also the mental health of the people (World Health Organization, 2020). The pandemic also caused unprecedented changes in businesses across every industry and sector. It dramatically disrupted labour markets, occupations and work across the globe (Caligiuri et al., 2020; Hancock et al., 2021; Kniffin et al., 2021).
The nationwide lockdowns gave the adoption of technologies a big nudge. Businesses quickly grasped digital practices and processes. The potential acceleration in automation and AI adoption provided effective responses to workplace challenges. Extensive use of virtual collaborations and cultural transitions led to the acceptance of the new ways of working from home impacting the future of work in deep, disruptive and permanent ways (Aroles et al., 2021; Diab-Bahman and Al-Enzi, 2020; Harney and Collings, 2021; Huang et al., 2021; Kniffin et al., 2021; O'Rourke, 2021; Schawbel, 2021; Yang et al., 2021). Now, with low infection rates in India and many other countries, organizations are reckoning to combat the regressive effects of the pandemic and contemplate the post-pandemic landscape.
The unforeseen flexibility and adaptability, innovation and creativity, cultural transitions and renewed trust along with the forced new ways of working are the drivers for an entirely new transformative workplace model (Aroles et al., 2021; Pataki-Bitto and Kapusy, 2021; O'Rourke, 2021; Yang et al., 2021). According to the surveys by Alexander et al. (2021), Life at Google (2020), Microsoft (2020), PwC (2021), most employees prefer not to come to the office every day post-covid-19. Another survey by Bloom (2020) in the US reveals that 55% of employees prefer a mix of home and office working. In India, a NASSCOM (2021) survey reported that only 50% of the workforce would like to return to the office. The survey by Gartner (2021) concluded that 50% of Indian employees felt more productive when they worked remotely. Another survey by Alexander et al. (2021) and Ferreira et al. (2020) across industries and geographies exhibit that the productivity of the employees increased during the pandemic. The findings of the study by Yang et al. (2021) also presented the favourable workers'...