The highest trend of returning to offices among these sectors: what a new study shows

A new study has found that the return to work has gained momentum following a decline in Covid-19 cases as workers across sectors return to offices. According to a survey by Colliers and Awfis, most workers in the telecommunications and consulting sectors are back on the job, with a significant decline in Covid-19 cases, while the IT sector is now reportedly lagging behind.

Notably, a joint report by consultancy firm Colliers India and coworking operator Awfis examines the state of return to work across sectors, as per the study, “as the third wave of Covid-19 began to abate in February, return to work is expected to take effect by June 2022 In approximately 34% of companies, approximately 75-100% of employees returned to work (including hybrid work).”

Interestingly, almost 41% of tenants said that only as many as 25% of their employees had returned to offices, and the survey showed that the telecommunications and consulting sectors recorded the highest rate of return to offices at 75-100%, while companies from the IT and new technology had the lowest return to work rate of 0-25%.

CEO Ramesh Nair Colliers India said, “the research clearly showed that a distributed workspace strategy is the right solution for occupiers in the new era of experiential workplaces as occupiers recover from the fallout of the pandemic. Flexible space in particular is leading this growth as tenants from various sectors are residential complexes in flexible centers in different cities.” Nair further reported that flexible workspace operators leased approximately 3.5 million square feet of office space between January and June this year across the country from the six largest cities, nearly three-quarters of flexible space leasing for all of 2021.

Amit Ramani, founder and CEO of Awfis, said the survey results demonstrate the success of the distributed work model followed by flexible spaces in meeting the ever-changing needs of India Inc. in terms of workspace, adding that “77% of tenants will include flexible space as part of their workplace strategy in the future. We expect exceptional future demand, driven primarily by large corporations, to de-densify existing traditional offices.”

Notably, the survey was conducted in May and June among tenants to understand their distributed workplace strategies. The respondents were from various sectors such as IT/ITeS, BFSI, engineering & manufacturing and others. A total of 150 responses were received from senior executives including founders, CEOs, COOs and CEOs of various companies. The size of the respondents’ companies varied, ranging from 1-500 employees to companies employing over 10,000 employees.

The study further found that almost 74% of tenants are likely to adopt a distributed workspace, while 53% of tenants prefer working from home and office as their preferred workplace portfolio strategy. About 49% of tenants will probably choose flexible office centers to provide dispersed work space and then open their own offices in cities and beyond, it says.

(With PTI input)