Advice and guides / For candidates
Remote, hybrid and onsite in Indian job listings
Three words that mean four or five different things depending on who wrote the listing. Worth pinning down before, not after.
Almost every Indian listing now carries one of these three words, and almost none of them define it. The gap between what the word implies and what the contract says is where a lot of early resignations come from.
Remote
In practice it usually means one of three arrangements. Fully remote with no office to go to. Remote but based in a city, because the employer wants you reachable for occasional days. Or remote for now, with a stated or unstated intention to call people in later.
The third is the one that causes problems, and it is common. Ask directly whether the role is remote permanently or remote currently, and get the answer in the offer letter rather than on a call.
Hybrid
Hybrid means a split, and the split is the whole question. Two days in is a different life from four days in. Ask which days, whether they are fixed or chosen, whether the team is on the same days, and whether the count is enforced or aspirational.
Also ask who decides. Hybrid set by policy is stable. Hybrid set by your manager changes when your manager changes.
Onsite
Usually straightforward, with two things worth confirming. Which location, because large employers move teams between campuses in the same city. And shift, because onsite roles supporting other time zones often carry an evening or night shift that the listing does not mention.
The five questions that settle it
- How many days in the office, and are they fixed days?
- Which exact location, and is that in the offer letter?
- What are the working hours, and does the role support another time zone?
- Is the arrangement policy or manager discretion?
- What happens if the policy changes, and does my letter protect the current arrangement?
What it does to pay
Less than people expect, and in both directions. Some employers pay a premium for onsite in expensive cities. Some pay less for fully remote hires outside metros, on the argument that the cost of living differs. Many pay the same and treat location as a preference, not a variable.
What is consistent is that remote roles attract far more applicants, so the bar at the screening stage is higher for the same salary. That is worth knowing when you decide which listings to spend your effort on.
What to check in the offer letter
Whatever was agreed on the call, look for it in the letter. The location clause, the working hours, and any line reserving the employer’s right to change the work location or pattern. That last clause is in most Indian offer letters and it is usually not negotiable, but knowing it is there is different from being surprised by it in month four.
If the arrangement matters to you more than the salary does, say so before the offer is drafted rather than after. It is far easier to add a line at drafting than to amend one afterwards.
Say what you want, early
Recruiters sort on this field the same way they sort on notice period. If you can only do hybrid within a certain travel distance, saying so on the form gets you matched to roles that fit, rather than pulled into processes that fall apart at the offer stage.
Every one of our seventy five roles runs remote, onsite or hybrid depending on the employer, and the application form asks which you want so we can match you against the right mandates.