By Karan Virwani

440 million millennials, 390 million Gen Z will shape India’s future. And this gig economy needs a different setup

India

has the second-largest labour force, as well as one of the youngest working populations in the world, with more than 50% of the workforce below the age of 35. To keep up with the requirements of this dynamic group, a revolutionary new wave of working—collaborative spaces—are now becoming the preferred

workspace

over traditional offices.

According to a JLL study, it is estimated that over 13 million people will start working out of shared workspaces by 2020. The study notes that there is a higher demand for flexible office settings in Asia Pacific, rather than any other part in the world.

Co-working spaces

are expected to grow at 40-50% in India alone, attracting investment of up to $400 mn!

The question that arises now is that why are ‘collaborative spaces’ becoming the new

buzzword

? How does one substantiate their preference for this setting?

India’s consumer story will be shaped by its 440mn millennials and 390mn Gen Z (born after 2000). The sheer size of India’s youth combined with improved education paves the way for sustained growth in purchasing power. This makes India’s consumer story one of the world’s most compelling for the next 20 years. The nation’s challenge is to create enough jobs to unleash the productivity of India’s talented youth.

Over the past few years, the government has taken up several initiatives, like ‘Make in India’, which fosters growth of several businesses and enterprises – making these initiatives major catalysts for India’s flourishing economy. With start-ups, SMEs and large enterprises mushrooming at a rapid pace and a new generation of workers opting for flexible work hours and relaxed social strictures, there is a growing demand for shared office spaces, which is now steadily increasing throughout the country.

One of the biggest problems faced by freelancers, SMEs and start-ups in India, and across the world, is the huge set-up cost involved in making their offices. Large office spaces with long fixed leases, hefty security deposits and sky-high rents, often prove to be roadblocks in the pursuit of realising their entrepreneurial ambitions.

Apart from the cost, the trouble associated with dealing with landlords and brokers who take a large cut often nip many potential businesses in the bud itself.

What is driving the young entrepreneurs towards shared workspaces is the simplification of the logistics and related concerns. Since all it takes to ‘set-up’ an office is a laptop and the entrepreneur themselves, they can skip the time-consuming and cumbersome process of buying furniture and designing a new space that could take six to eight months before they can move in. Not to forget, the process of setting up a whole admin team to take care of day-to-day logistics and running.

All this trouble is well skipped with collaborative spaces. This means they have more time trying to figure out the right environment and focus on their core business, rather than worry about logistics, infrastructure and the backend technology support.

While collaborative spaces benefit SMEs and start-ups, large enterprises are not far behind, as they find such spaces useful for attracting and retaining talent as well as creating a community where businesses work together to make a solid business impact. To cater to the millennial task force, these shared workspaces are usually designed in a manner that factors in collaboration, functionality and design inspired by the location to add a personality that makes it stand out.

The atmosphere in a shared workspace creates synergies helping people achieve shared professional goals, which is a great motivator. Collaborative spaces provide individuals a platform to observe and learn from a talented group of colleagues from within the same or different organization creating a sense of community. The best possible experience of working is provided in such setups as they encourage people to become collaborators, rather than just colleagues or competitors. And this goes beyond office hours, as individuals can develop useful networks and long term relationships with like-minded people, that may not only provide the professional boost, but also expand their social circles.

This author is CWeO, India, WeWork