Working sector to ditch their offices for co-working spaces

Demand for co-working spaces and flexible offices is likely to jump by between 30% and 40% in 2018 and it is observed that Indians are increasingly looking foraward to ditch their offices for shared working spaces. According to estimates from real estate consulting firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), some 13.5 million Indians will operate out of such facilities. This will include 10.3 million employees of large companies, 1.5 million freelancers, and around 100,000 startup workers. The demand will largely be driven by an increasingly young population and small businesses and start-ups, and further fuelled by expensive office rentals. Co-working spaces typically work on a leasing model where workers can rent out workstations on an hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly basis. This saves companies the cost of leasing out office space and setting up infrastructure such as air conditioning, printers, coffee machines, etc. As demand rises, co-working spaces are expected to attract $400 million in investments in the next one year, JLL added. Over the last few years, both foreign and domestic firms have upped investments into the market, especially in big cities.