Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu has called on skilled professionals to consider returning to rural areas, advocating for a more distributed approach to talent and economic development.
'In the last 40 years, villages in Tanjavur district have lost a lot of talent, with abandoned houses and temples in so many places. It is time to go back,' Vembu said, urging individuals to move away from urban concentration and contribute to growth in villages.
Vembu has been a strong proponent of rural development and has previously relocated to a village in Tamil Nadu, where Zoho has built offices and training centers to create local employment opportunities.
'We are doing our part - we have an office and we are building a campus near Kumbakonam,' he said. He also said that Zoho is investing Yali Aerospace, a drone startup in Tanjavur town.
He argues that decentralizing work can help reduce pressure on cities while enabling more balanced economic growth across regions.
Vembu was responding to a post by Krishnan, who described driving through parts of Papanasam, Neduntheru and Ayyampettai and noticing the absence of locals to care for temples in villages like Appakudathaan and Anbil.
'...We have to realize that it was our immediate previous gen and grandfathers who made the mistake of leaving our ancestral villages. No point blaming others for what we did to ourselves, our temples and our sampradayams. Rushing to Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi Mumbai and abroad for white collar jobs abandoning our temples. It is on us,' the post read.
The remarks come amid ongoing conversations about remote work, talent distribution and the future of India's workforce beyond major urban centers.