Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal's Strongly-Worded Email To Employees On WFH Misuse Goes Viral

A screenshot of an email reportedly sent by Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal to his employees regarding office attendance is going viral on social media. In the strongly-worded email, Mr Aggarwal gave a stern warning to the company's employees over their "poor attendance". He accused them of neglecting their duties and called the situation disrespectful to colleagues who put in genuine effort. Mr Aggarwal also announced stricter attendance, adding that HR would get in touch with those who "misused the freedom so far". 

"Hi all, I've been going through our attendance data. It is shocking that a lot of people have very poor attendance. I would imagine everyone has the basic self-respect to not fleece the company by not even turning up for work. It's even disrespectful to those colleagues who genuinely work hard and contribute. And we don't have any WFH policy except for genuine needs," Mr Aggarwal wrote. 

"Monday onwards, a more stringent attendance expectation will start. And those of you who have misused the freedom so far, HR will be having a conversation with you. The best excuse I've heard so far is that the facial recognition system data is wrong. Let's not insult basic intelligence. Come to work, do good work and feel a part of Ola's mission," he added. 

Take a look below: 

Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal has sent a stern message to staff regarding work-from-office and poor attendance. He emphasized that employees should not take advantage of the company by not showing up to work. Interestingly, some staff members have disputed the attendance records,… pic.twitter.com/WYRd8rY7np

— Anannd K Thoratt (@akthoratt) December 17, 2024

NDTV could not independently verify the authenticity of the letter. However, the screenshot of the mail has sparked a discussion on social media. While some users praised Mr Aggarwal's no-nonsense approach, others criticised him for being overly harsh. 

"It seems Ola is lala company...just physical presence in office does not mean person will work with integrity..he can go to office chit chat..pretend to work seriously but still gives low productivity," wrote one user. "f you think you have hired kids who need to be monitored it makes perfect sense but I would suggest him to hire grown ups going forward. If he has hired grown ups already; I hope he treats them as is," commented another. 

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"Why are we criticising only Bhavish? What about the employees who don't turn up for work ,game the system  and still think they deserve salary ? Respect is a 2 way street. When you value your job , you can expect value in return," said a third user. 

"When employees don't even turn up to office for work,  the productivity and quality certainly goes inferior without timely/quicker collaboration between teams,  which is clearly visible in their products and services ...  I'm in agreement with @bhash on this one," added another.