Hybrid Work Model Will Have Less Office Space: TechM Will Slash 50% Space For Employees Returning To Office!

After taking a taste of working from home, companies do not necessarily want to restrict themselves to a strict work from office model in a post-pandemic world. 

Reducing Office Space

The same is reflected in their future plans as the IT major, Tech Mahindra plans to use less than 50% of the company’s office spaces in the coming months. 

Giving his views, managing director and CEO CP Gurnani says that  “From a real estate point of view, I do not need more than 50% of the workspace. My own reading is that it will be more like 40%. If for every employee, I used to provide 150 sq ft of space, I am now going to give them only 60 sq ft because I can do the flexi working,”.

Hybrid Is Here To Stay

Gurnani added, “Our internal surveys show that mostly youngsters want to come back to work, middle-aged people are more comfortable not driving and working from home,”.

His reasoning is backed by emphasis on the merits of technology that has enabled employees to work from anywhere in the past couple of years. 

Gurnani said, “The world of work has changed. AI, automation, security, distributed platforms… it is a given. Hybrid is here to stay. Technology has proven it. It is just a matter of which functions, which areas require much more interaction,”.

Hub-and-spoke Office Model

This has also affected leasing of traditional office spaces as the average deal size for technology companies dipped by 15% pan-India in 2021 compared to pre-Covid-19 levels as per the  data sourced from property consultant Colliers. 

Now technology companies are exploring a hub-and-spoke office model which is based on the idea to have one main office in a tech corridor and multiple smaller offices near residential locations.

Beside this, the hybrid work model is giving corporates an opportunity to hire skilled talent from tier two and three cities at lower costs. 

So, many IT companies are also tapping into co-working spaces to accommodate these employees. 

As a new normal, the concept of hybrid work model is gaining wider acceptance. 

For instance, the E-commerce startup Meesho, has announced to completely shift to a hybrid work model.