After over two years into the Covid-19 pandemic and a long work from home style of working, many companies are now keen on welcoming their employees back to the offices. For the same reason, several large firms, including Samsung and Myntra, with leased office space have also begun organising office reopening ceremonies.
Consulting firm Gartner is also among the companies that have hosted reopening ceremonies for their employees. A number of others are also likely to follow suit in the July-September quarter, according to property consultants and developers.
Despite this urge to recall employees back to the offices, many companies will still continue to work in the hybrid model and property consultants are of the view that footfalls at large office parks may improve to 70-80 per cent in the coming months from the present 50-60 per cent across India.
“We estimate that major tech parks in India are witnessing 50-60 per cent employee return to office. There is no denying that the pandemic has changed the purpose of office as we know,” Anshul Jain, managing director, Cushman &Wakefield, India and South East Asia, told Economic Times.
Workplaces of the future will be seen as ‘destinations’ where employees go to connect, collaborate, innovate and, in countries like ours, where there are no dedicated home-office spaces, to do work that demands concentration, he added.
New offices
Fashion e-commerce company Myntra in April shifted to its new premises in Bengaluru which is spread across 300,000 sq ft. The company said it offers a balance between work, creativity, and play.
“Myntra’s new office space is a reflection of our continuous efforts to stay ahead of the innovation curve in the field of democratising fashion, beauty and lifestyle,” CEO Nandita Sinha said during the launch.
Moreover, corporates are now also asking for solutions that help employees come to work. This includes an area for social events and a corner for work-from-home where employees feel at home even while being in the office, stated Akshay Lakhanpal, CEO India, Space Matrix, a workspace design firm.
Many corporates are not changing the building but completely redoing the interior to attract employees.
Consulting firm Gartner also resumed working from office from the Centre for Excellence (CoE), their biggest office space, in Gurgaon from April. The Space Matrix team that designed Gartner’s new office focused on creating a workspace with a mix of collaborative and social spaces, as well as work zones and quiet areas.
In the same month, Samsung R&D Institute in Noida also moved to a 377,118 sq ft modern office on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway. The premises is designed on the egalitarian linear workstation concept, and every floor has a social hub at the entrance to enhance interaction, communication, and open collaboration among employees.
According to the company’s managing director KY Roo, the new space is an effort to create a safe and inclusive workplace that empowers every individual to innovate and create.
