While the Western world has adopted the flexible work culture for long, a successful work from home (WFH) stint during the COVID-19 lockdown has also brought a change in the predominantly work from office mindset in India.

Despite the presence of the orthodox thinking in the mind of some managers that if an employee is not present in the office, he/she is not working remotely, it’s expected that the change is not only going to stay here, but will also thrive in the coming years.

“The future of work is changing rapidly and will almost be permanently oriented towards greater flexibility, hence the co-working sector is growing exponentially. With the need for agility has been reinforced like never before by the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s expected that the co-working sector will continue to be vibrant in 2023,” said Manas Mehrotra, Founder, 315Work Avenue.

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As remote working helps a company save a lot in terms of office rent, electricity, maintenance etc, it helps them recover quickly from the jolt they got during the pandemic. Work from home also helps an employee to save rent by moving back to his/her home town and such an employee may also save time and cost of commuting to office. So, it’s better for the employers and employees if work from home is exercised properly.

After allowing work from home to the employees, who can work remotely without affecting a company’s day-to-day affair, costs may further be reduced by hiring co-working spaces to accommodate the remaining employees, who need to work from office due to the nature of work.

“Co-working spaces would help the companies aspiring to keep pace with the economic rebound to fill a unique void created by the new office requirements of the changing economy,” said Mehrotra.

“The demand for flexible work spaces is also constantly increasing not only because such spaces perfectly fit the ‘new normal,’ but they also provide companies with an option to save costs, while boosting productivity, enhancing work experience and providing flexibility to employees,” he added.

With the benefit co-working culture has for employees, it would be hard to ignore.

“As employees have been recognised as their greatest asset by the companies, they must take cognisance of their needs and preferences for customised workspace design requirements, satellite offices, preventive health strategy and enhanced focus on technology adoption,” said Mehrotra.

“The workplace has also become more meaningful as they have evolved from being purely functional to being more productive and experiential. Hence, these advantages have lent great value to the co-working industry over traditional offices,” he added.

So, the demand for co-working spaces is expected to rise in the coming years.

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“Flexible spaces is becoming mainstream now and hence co-working companies have seen a massive spike in the number of enquiries this year from across the clientele spectrum – including large enterprises, MNCs, corporates, unicorns, start-ups, individuals, etc. Following this, a few trends will dominate the co-working industry and push greater demand for it,” said Mehrotra.

“This acceptance and surge will fuel greater demand for flexible spaces in the foreseeable future and are expected to witness a new peak in terms of gross absorption, with the sector already accounting for 20 per cent market share of the overall office space demand in recent times. The rapidly increasing trends to re-strategise the workspaces indicates a brighter future for this new age asset class,” he added.

“So, it may be said that the idea of co-working spaces is not only here to stay, but the culture will also drive the future of the corporate realm. Therefore, it goes without saying that the co-working culture will drive the future of the corporate realm and is an idea that is here to stay,” Mehrotra further said.