Coworking boom in Gurugram helps professionals strike work-life balance

A pug strolls around a glossy, spotless floor. There is a colourful bar counter with glass jars full of cream-filled biscuits, brown sugar sachets and a wide variety of teas. The coffee vending machine, a short distance away from the counter, doubles up as a networking zone for two professionals from different organisations. A group of four plays pool around a table at the centre of the room, while a young man reads a novel on a neon-coloured sofa in the corner.

It’s not a café or a youth hostel. It is a workspace, the kind the city has rapidly warmed up to in recent times. coworking spaces, such as this one, are now becoming common not just in the city, but across the country. From the industrial section of Udyog Vihar to the swanky Golf Course Road and the corporate corridors of Cybercity, the coworking space boom in Gurugram in the last two years is hard to miss. According to a Colliers International Report, Gurugram has the third-highest concentration of coworking spaces in the country after Bengaluru and Mumbai, respectively.

While business pundits and corporate trackers evaluate the real estate impact of these spaces and how they are changing the lens through which the corporate world is viewed, those in the middle of the action talk about how coworking spaces have provided them with a heightened sense of work-life balance, professional satisfaction and an increased happiness quotient at work.

Transcending the definition of a shared office with rigid hierarchy and barriers, coworking hubs today are spaces where you find cucumber water, lattes, world cup screenings, yoga classes, jazz concerts, swimming pools, and sun decks. The spaces are designed to help those working here stay mentally as well as physically stimulated.

Coworking boom and changing workplaces

As per a May 2019 report by Coworking Resources, a coworking space opens up in Gurugram every 36 days. The report also states that the city ranks 29th in the list of top 50 cities worldwide in coworking growth this year.It’s not just the number of coworking spaces in the city that impresses, but also the colossal spaces they occupy. The city is home to an 8 lakh square feet coworking space with 12,000 seats, GoWork in Udyog Vihar. WeWork is another global coworking giant that has its roots deeply entrenched in Gurugram with five coworking centres in the city. Awfis, Innov8, GoHive, 91 Springboard and AltF Coworking are among the many coworking spaces in the city. Most of these places have a varied consumer base, ranging from freelancers, sole-proprietors, medium-size firms, start-ups, and large companies.

Flexible spaces and opportunities for networking

For designer-turned-entrepreneur Kavneet Singh, who works at a coworking space in Sector 15, it’s the flexibility and neutrality these spaces offer, one she could never find in the eight years of her corporate career, “The work culture is completely different here—so relaxed. There was always a men’s club vibe in my former organisations. One of the things I love about coworking spaces is that they are gender-neutral. I can come in whenever I want, talk to whomever I want, work for a few hours, read books from the library, have fun conversations, share mutual requirements and fix issues.”

These spaces have primarily been created to facilitate start-ups and let new entrepreneurs concentrate on their business singularly, without having to worry about administrative and operational factors and to help them minimise the heavy costs that accompany them. The model that began for freelancers and start-ups has, today, in around two years, burgeoned into workspaces that draw larger companies.

Encouraging better physical and mental health

From long paths for brisk walks and regular workout sessions held by experts to provisional weekly chats with counsellors and discussions with the in-house chefs, coworking spaces in the city provide several amenities and services.

At a coworking centre in Sector 15, soothing music plays through speakers set in every floor of the four-storied property, every office has a library and lounge, and people can unwind in Yoga rooms or work up a sweat in a Zumba class within the coworking area.

“Coworking spaces have redefined traditional workplace norms. Health, hobbies, resources, innovation, inspiration, camaraderie, a support system—all aspects that an individual looks to when living his or her most productive version—are taken care of in a coworking place. People are happier here,” Prateek Mendiratta, founder of a company that works in one such coworking space in Udyog Vihar, says. Mendiratta echoes the sentiments of most in the large and diverse coworking community.

For Sandhya Thapar, a freelance chartered accountant working at a coworking space in Sector 44, it’s a “fantastic” feeling to come to work daily. She says, “When I am feeling low or something has not gone right, I take a look around—everyone is ideating, succeeding, failing but starting all over again. Watching all this energy keeps me motivated. I made my first client here. It’s so easy to approach people here and seek out work.”

Scope for innovation

While the ubiquitous coworking spaces and their sheer density in the city are indicators that they have struck the right chord with professional communities, founders say that the only way to sustain the boom is constant upgradation and innovation. Sudeep Singh, CEO, GoWork, says, “Professionals, especially millennials, are extremely health-conscious, price-conscious and big believers in the co-collaborative culture. They seek value additions. Coworking spaces need to keep pushing that envelope.” Singh says that after many years of research and observation he concluded that Indian professionals are among the most overworked professionals in the world. He continues, “Rest is such an important precursor to productivity, yet paid so little attention. When a person puts in 48 or 72 hours in an office, it needs to be a space that allows him to have a life besides work as well. A yoga room, gym, healthy meal options, sleeping pods, pet crèche, and such amenities at affordable prices allow him or her to have that life.”

Vibrant events calendar

The opportunity to network, meet new people and have a social life through work are ideas that appeal to many. For HR professional Kunti Shekhawat, it is the packed events calendar that is the biggest appeal of her coworking centre in Sector 44. “I see the employees of our company so much happier after moving here. Events like spa days, baking workshops, music shows are such a great way to keep positive energy around the place,” she says.

Conducive workplaces

Like Pant, several professionals worked from home earlier but now find that working in such spaces is better. Pant says she has become more productive because though she has space and time to work independently, she also meets a lot of new people from different areas every day which adds character and perspective to her work, as well as her overall personality.

Then there are professionals like Khyati Shukla who equate a good workplace to one she can work comfortably in during her pregnancy.

She joined a coworking space on Golf Course Road that has specially designed bathrooms for pregnant women, chairs, and cushions that make sitting while pregnancy easier and a play zone for children.

“Coworking spaces are addressing so many aspects of an employee’s well-being, health, interests, entertainment but not much is still available to help new parents, especially women, who return to work post-motherhood. That’s what we wanted to address,” says Vandana Maithani, one of the three parents who founded a coworking space for working parents in the city.

Shukla, who worked there throughout her pregnancy, will now return with her nine-month-old baby in tow. Speaking of her stint with coworking spaces, she says, “I am looking forward to getting back to work without feeling guilty that I had to leave my child behind.”

First Published: Aug 17, 2019 23:33 IST