Covid-19 effect: Coworking spaces see empty aisles
- Mar 25, 2020
- 2 min read
BENGALURU: With many India Inc employees working from home due to theCovid-19virus pandemic, operators of co-working spaces -- which offershared office spaces– have seen an almost 50% dip in footfalls, industry players told ET.
Many organisations that use these co-working firms to house their staff have started asking for flexible packages, limited to a few hours of usage, as opposed to monthly and annual plans.
“With a slowdown in the economy over the last several months and the current situation, clients are now asking for more flexible plans. Earlier, the average booking period for a space used to be around three months, which has now changed to a few hours,” said Yatin Thakur, founder of Co-WorkIn.
As the number of confirmed cases rise in the country, more than a dozen startups – which form the major clientele – have issued a mandatory work-from-home policy.
With many India Inc employees working from home due to the Covid-19 virus pandemic, operators of co-working spaces -- which offer shared office spaces – have seen an almost 50% dip in footfalls, industry players told ET.
Many organisations that use these co-working firms to house their staff have started asking for flexible packages, limited to a few hours of usage, as opposed to monthly and annual plans they had opted for earlier.
“With a slowdown in the economy over the last several months and the current situation, clients are now asking for more flexible plans. Earlier, the average booking period for a space used to be around three months, which has now changed to a few hours,” said Yatin Thakur, founder of CoWorkIn Co.
As the number of confirmed cases rise in the country, more than a dozen startups -- which form the major clientele for co-working spaces -- have issued a mandatory work-from-home policy.
“Since a lot of member companies have given their employees an option to work from home, we have experienced a drop in footfalls. We will continue to monitor the situation further," aWeWorkspokesperson said.
The growing concerns surrounding the outbreak have made co-working firms ramp up hygiene checks as part of precautionary measures. Many have even cancelled events at their locations, which usually see large gatherings.
“Companies have stopped planning for the long-term, which was not the case earlier,” Thakur of CoWorkIn Co said.
Co-working companies are also facing a slowdown as new clients are not coming on board due to the economic uncertainty as a result of the outbreak.
Startups are now using online and collaborative tools like Slack and Zoom, while teams are working from home.
“We are making our centres available as an extended work-from-home option for individuals and also as part of business continuity planning solution for our clientele. We are building virtual alternatives to keep our members engaged in the interim,” said Abhishek Goenka, CEO of CoWrks.
The IPO debacle of SoftBank-backed office sharing startup WeWork last year has raised question marks on the overall sector. India is the second-largest market for co-working sector and has over 1,000 co-working spaces, according to real estate consulting firm JLL.
March 18, 2020
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