Key Takeaways:

• Kolkata is now a 1 million CRE absorption market where 7,00,000 sq ft space is taken up by flex space providers. The key drivers behind the surge in overall space take up are the benefits of flexibility and savings on capex offered to occupiers along with pandemic-led reverse migration.
• Until 2019, Kolkata’s flex market accounted for just 5000 seats which, by Sept 2022 has reached 15,000 seats and is further expected to grow. Paving the way for flex market growth are enterprise solutions which are experiencing a high rate of adoption by large organizations from IT/ ITeS and BFSI.
• Due to the workforce returning to Kolkata post-pandemic, large organizations are eyeing this city for their expansion and prefer flex workspaces as their ideal workplace strategy.  This trend is expected to continue for a long term and will be a key driver of Kolkata’s flex market growth in the coming years.
• According to a study by JLL India, 83% occupiers have agreed that their workforce wants sustainability in their workspaces. As a result, flex operators need to set-up their spaces in buildings that are gold and platinum certified. They need to create spaces that are energy efficient, tech-enabled and user-friendly.
• The future of Kolkata’s flex market is going to be determined by the symbiotic relationship between occupiers catering to workforce that has migrated back to hometowns and flex space providers offering enterprise solutions. With majority workforce back in Kolkata and large organizations setting up offices in the city amid distributed workforce strategy and government initiatives, the demand is expected to rise manifold.