Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath's candid revelation: Remote work falls short in crucial aspects

Zerodha's CEO Nithin Kamath recently shared his thoughts on remote work and how Work From Home (WFH) did worked well for his employees. Instead, he introduced a hybrid model last month to improve collaboration.

During the pandemic lockdown in 2020, Zerodha went fully remote, but Kamath admitted that it wasn't successful for everyone. He explained that while WFH was suitable for support roles, it posed challenges for tech, business, and decision-making teams due to communication gaps.

All of us at @zerodhaonline went fully remote during the pandemic lockdown in 2020. While it's been great for some, it hasn't been for others. In this post, K explains why it didn't work for everybody at Zerodha.

Work from home works well for support roles given the structured…

— Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) April 1, 2024

Changes in Zerodha's operations

To address this, around 10% of Zerodha's core team, comprising over 100 people, began working from the office three days a week a few months ago. Kamath noted a significant improvement in productivity with this change.

In a blog post, Kamath emphasized that long-term remote work demands specific skills and traits. Zerodha didn't initially hire individuals with these qualities, leading to challenges.

Kamath triggers debate on WFH

Kamath's remarks sparked a debate online, with some agreeing with his views while others disagreed. Some argued that young graduates miss out on learning opportunities in a permanent WFH setup, while others highlighted the effectiveness of WFH for certain individuals. Suggestions were made to open offices in less populated areas for better health and work-life balance. However, some criticized the perceived control exerted by companies over employees' choices.