The flexible workspace segment in India is likely to attract over $1 billion in investment during the financial year 2019-2020, a report says. The space taken up by the co-working segment has doubled to 3.9 mn sq ft in 2018 from the previous year. Cumulatively, at the end of the first quarter of 2019, the co-working segment has taken up 6.9 mn sq ft since 2017, the report said. The co-working share in office leasing in the top seven cities of India increased from 5 per cent (2017) to 8 per cent (2018) and this moved up further to 12 per cent in the first quarter of 2019, says the report by JLL and FICCI, Co-Working: Reshaping Indian Workplaces. Co-working spaces are workplaces where individuals or small companies work independently or collaboratively, in a shared office space. The trend is fuelled by the fact that large enterprises have started moving into flexible workspace solutions. This has also resulted in commercial real estate markets seeing a larger shift — wherein flexible workspaces account for a larger share of absorption. With greater penetration across cities, co-working spaces are also playing an important role in supporting the growth of start-ups and enabling accelerator programmes for many new firms. Besides the top seven cities, co-working operators are venturing into tier 2 cities such as Jaipur, Goa, Chandigarh and Lucknow. It is expected that smaller cities would see further growth of co-working spaces as they are witnessing a spurt of start-ups and incubation spaces, says Ramesh Nair, CEO & Country Head, JLL India. Unlike the traditional business centres, co-working offices offer unique amenities such as a gymnasium, spa, a food court, gaming zones, sleeping pods, crèche services etc. These attributes have helped popularise co-working spaces among employees, entrepreneurs and corporates alike. The key benefits associated with co-working spaces are relatively low operation costs, better infrastructure and networking opportunities. While freelancers are primarily focused on the low cost factor, start-ups and SMEs focus both on cost and infrastructure. For large corporates, on the other hand, travel or regular commute convenience is a top priority, and hence prime office location is as important as infrastructure. Huge investments in the co-working sector are enabling providers of shared office space to scale up faster by utilising these funds. The scaling up is happening not only in terms of geographical expansion, but also in technological innovation.
The flexible office sector in India is predicted to attract investment of more than $1bn in Q1 this year , according to a report a report by JLL and FICCI entitled Co-Working: Reshaping Indian Workplaces. Office space leased by co-workspace operators in India ’s top seven cities, which has been growing at between five and eight percent in recent years , increased 12% in 2019-2020 , and operators are increasingly moving into tier 2 cities. While start-ups are fuelling demand in tier seven cities, large enterprises are increasingly embracing the flexible office lease model, boosting demand in larger metro areas. Investment in the sector is enabling operators to scale up faster both in terms of geographical expansion and technological innovation.