91% of Indian CEOs want to tie rewards and promotions to office attendance: KPMG

2 minutes of reading Last update: October 3, 2024 | 21:14 IST

A new survey by consulting firm KPMG India released on Thursday found that Indian chief executive officers (CEOs) are taking decisive steps to get their employees back to offices.

It found that as many as 91 percent of Indian CEOs “are considering incentivizing office work by linking rewards, raises or promotions to it.” This is slightly higher than the global average of 87%.

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These findings were revealed in the KPMG 2024 India CEO Outlook report, based on responses from 125 Indian CEOs. All respondents’ companies had annual revenues exceeding $500 million.

“Seventy-eight percent of CEOs in India expect their entire workforce to be ‘back on the job’, highlighting the importance of face-to-face interactions in work culture,” the study said.

Addressing the impact of generative AI on skill development, the study also found that 50 percent of CEOs in India equally emphasize the importance of developing workforce skills and capabilities alongside technology investments.

Moreover, CEOs in India are confident in the benefits of generative AI but concerned about the pace of regulatory progress.

According to the study, 71 percent of CEOs in India compared to 76 percent of CEOs globally said they had a “robust understanding” of how generative AI can improve their organization’s performance and provide competitive advantage.

“At the same time, they express concerns about the pace of progress in generative AI regulation, with 77% of CEOs in India agreeing with this view compared to 69% globally,” it said.

“While the (AI) tool itself has the potential to rapidly evolve and learn on its own, at the heart of it will be the need for humans to continue to play a key role in the development of AI. An ethical approach to using the tool by safeguarding against any vulnerabilities will be extremely necessary,” said Akhilesh Tuteja, Partner and Head of Clients and Markets at KPMG in India.

First publication: October 3, 2024 | 21:14 IST