Co-working spaces in huge demand in Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram

KOCHI: Many companies based in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai are renting seats in the available vacant spaces in co-working office environments in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi. This trend indicates that these companies prefer to work outside the IT parks in the state so as to ensure a better infrastructure and closely-knit working environment.

At present, there are over 30 co-working spaces functioning in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi. These spaces are operating in the heart of the cities to ensure travel and lifestyle convenience for employees. They offer high-internet and other technical infrastructure.  

The initial trend in occupying co-working spaces was for the expansion of start-ups. However, the pandemic has necessitated the big and mid-size companies also to focus on such spaces so that their employees can work in an office environment near their homes.

Mohammed Jebin, senior manager, corporate sales, Incuspaze Solutions (P) Ltd, a coworking player operating in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, said there has been a huge demand in office spaces since the pandemic struck. 

“Generally, the co-working spaces offer limited seats. However, currently, there is a demand from major companies looking for a minimum of 100 seats outside Technopark and Infopark. In our space in Kochi, Deloitt took a 25-seat space, while Phonepay took 16 seats. In our space in Thiruvananthapuram, Hiyamee, a IT company based in Mumbai, took 65 seats. It is a positive trend and a lot of enquiries are coming in from major IT players looking for less than 100 seats in co-working spaces. So, we are also planning to expand our space. Now, we have only a two-floor facility in Thiruvananthapuram,” he said.

Besides the companies currently operating from co-working spaces, some major players have signed agreements with the co-working players to start their operations soon. Quantiphi, a multinational digital engineering company, has signed an agreement to hire space at Incuspaze in Thiruvananthapuram.

According to Anwar Haneefa, CEO of The Atomic, a co-working space in Thiruvananthapuram, the co-working spaces will have a higher demand as long as the hybrid working arrangement exists. “It is true that there is a bigger demand for spaces outside IT parks. Hence, we are looking for expansion. Currently, we have 550 seats. Of these, 460 seats have been rented out. Already, companies like Taurus and Carestack are working here in our facility. We also expect more major players soon looking for branches so that they can start facilities with at least 30 to 50 seats,” Anwar said.

TATA ELXSI EXPANDS TO KINFRA 

The automobile tech major Tata Elxsi has expanded outside Technopark by leasing out a nine-storey 2.17 lakh sq ft building complex at Kinfra Video and Film park in Kazhakootam. Industries Minister P Rajeeve handed over the building to the company at a function held here on Tuesday. This is the first MoU to be signed under the Industries Department after the second LDF government came to power. Just 10 months after signing the MoU on June 30, 2021, the state government was able to provide all the facilities required by Tata Elxsi.

Tata Elxsi’s new venture will be located in the Special Economic Zone of the park. The project, with an investment of H75 crore will provide direct employment to 2,500 people and indirect employment to 1,500. The Tata Elxsi expansion will create 6,000 jobs over the next five years. The building is based on the innovative ‘green building’ concept. Tata Elxsi’s chief operating officer Thankarajan said Thiruvananthapuram is the fastest growing center of its six centers in India.

“Around 40% of Tata Elxsi employees are in this city, though ours is a Bengaluru-headquartered company. The Thiruvananthapuram headcount is very close to that of the headquarters. In five years, the city might match the figure,” he said.