According to a survey by Colliers and Awfis, the majority of employees in the telecommunications and consulting sectors have returned to the office with a significant drop in COVID-19 cases but the IT sector is lagging.
Real estate consultants Colliers India and Awfis’ joint report explore the return to work situation in various sectors.
“As the third wave of COVID-19 began to wane in February, the return to the office gained momentum. As a result, by June 2022, about 34% of companies saw about 75- 100% of employees return to the office (including combined work), “said the report.
About 41% of tenants said only 25% of their employees had returned to the office.
The survey shows that the telecommunications and consulting sectors have the highest return-to-office rates (75-100%) while IT and new technology companies have the lowest return-to-office rates (0- 25%).
“The survey made it clear that a distributed workspace strategy is the right path for occupants in the new era of experiential workplaces, as occupants emerge from the aftermath of the global pandemic. In particular, flexible spaces are leading this growth, as occupants from different sectors are housing groups in flexible hubs across cities,” said the CEO. Colliers India Ramesh Nair said.
Flexible workspace operators leased about 3.5 million square feet of office space in January-June this year in the top six cities, nearly three-quarters of the flexible space leasing space. for the whole of 2021, he added.
The survey was conducted between May and June among occupants to understand their strategies for distributed workplaces. Respondents come from various fields such as IT/ITeS, BFSI, engineering and manufacturing and others.
A total of 150 responses were received from C-Suite executives including Founders, CEOs, COOs and CHROs of various companies. Respondents’ company sizes varied widely, ranging from around 1-500 employees to companies with over 10,000 employees.
According to the survey, about 74% of occupants are likely to adopt distributed workspace while 53% of occupants prefer working from home plus office as preferred workplace portfolio strategy their.
About 49% of tenants are likely to use flexible hubs to create distributed workspaces, followed by setting up their own offices in major cities and non-major cities.
The consultant sees opportunities for flexible spaces not only in large cities but also in non-major cities. “In fact, in non-metro cities, the total flexible area is likely to more than double to 5.5 million square feet by the end of 2022,” said Mr. Nair.
Amit Ramani, Founder and CEO, Awfis says the survey’s findings are testament to the success of the distributed working model and subsequently the flexible space in meeting demand. India Inc.’s ever-growing workspace.
He added: “In the future, 77% of tenants will include flexible spaces as part of their workplace strategy.
According to data by Colliers India, total office space for lease has increased to 32.9 million square feet in 2021 from 30.1 million square feet in the previous year. In 2019, the number stood at 44.8 million square feet across six cities – Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.
In the first six months of this year, office space for rent increased to 27.5 million square feet from 10.3 million square feet in the same period last year. The rental rate of flexible workspace operators stands at 13%.
This story appeared in the 4 August, 2022 issue of News 7fa and was originally published at: Return To Office Highest In Telecom, Consulting Sectors; IT Lags: Report