Disconcertingly similar to some economic devastations of the past, such as those caused by the dotcom burst at the turn of the century or the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, the current pandemic has tested social and economic resilience in the extreme. If the degree of severity were to be measured qualitatively, the “VUCA” (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) is significantly pronounced this time.

Nevertheless, a strong recovery from the slump appears to be inevitable. By various projections, such as those by IMF’s World Economic Outlook, India should be able to grow more rapidly in 2021 than most world economies.

For real estate, the VUCA led deceleration has been different for different segments. The impact has been severe on those real estate segments, which were at the forefront of progress. One among such frontrunners was Coworking.

In this report, our endeavour is to give you a three-phased picture regarding the future of Coworking. In the first part, we lay the foundations through an insightful narrative of the evolution of Coworking, with global comparisons. The second part, then, deals with the economic impact points of the current event and leads to an econometric model of the future. While we have given a summary picture of possible future paths, we remain aware of the dynamic scenario in today’s world.   

The scenarios will need to be updated frequently and revisited at intervals. We remain committed to this goal. In the third part, we cover the viewpoints of various stakeholders – as evinced through a survey of developers and occupiers from different parts of the country.