India Coworking Firms Hope To Find Relief Amidst Lockdowns

Coworking providers in India are attempting to find relief from their losses caused by the coronavirus lockdowns taking place. With little to no occupants in these spaces, operators are facing difficulties paying their fixed costs such as utilities, internet, employee costs and more.

“People are not coming to our space due to the lockdown and we see no new business conversions any time soon,” said Ankit Sachdeva, chief growth officer of Co-Offiz.

Additionally, coworking leaders are noting that along with loss of business during the past few weeks, many have not seen contract renewals with current clients. This is largely in part due to startups facing their own losses and opting to work from home instead. Even more, many startups have laid off their employees in order to cut costs, which further hurts occupancy levels at coworking spaces.

This is particularly challenging for operators that offer short-terms plans and rely on companies coming through their space at a regular pace. Still, some experts believe that this will all be a short-term impact and things will return to normal once the dust has settled.

Now, these providers are desperately hoping for a government bailout package that would keep them afloat throughout the lockdown. In fact, the Coworking Association in India has plans to write a letter to finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for government intervention.