gurugram the demand for flexible office spaces has risen postcovid with major companies and businesses including startups now opting for co working this inference can be drawn from the latest report by real estate consultants anarockof a net absorption of approximately 208 million square feet across the top seven cities in the first half of this calendar year the share of co working spaces stood at 20 back in the first half of 2021 its share was just 6 of net office absorption of approximately 933 million square feet the report said in ncr the figure stood at 275 million square feet in the first half of 2022 of this 15 was by co working playersbacked by rising office space demand average monthly office rentals are also seen to be rising across the top cities with ncr cities topping the list with 5 rise in average monthly office rentals from january to june 2022 as compared to the same period last yearrajiv bathla ceo of the circle a co working startup said that flexible spaces will continue to see strong momentum and growth over the next few years given the changed dynamics and preferences of how people and organisations are choosing to worksumit agarwal director sales leasing grandthum said the rental values of co working spaces are fairly adjusted according to the demands and capabilities of business houses and it accounts for lesser investment than office space leasings therefore it is a costproductive and frugal decision to go for coworking spaces rather than other formatsharish binani cofounder of smartworks says the pandemic has given a muchneeded impetus to the growth of the commercial real estate segment with the increasing trend of hybrid working and focus on office culture employee engagement and innovation managed office spaces have become a preferred workplace alternative for the enterprise sector we do see an increase in the demand for managed office spaces in the near future as wellanuj puri chairman of anarock said a major factor driving demand is that these spaces are not concentrated in just the city centres or major employment hubs theyre spread across different areas including the housingintense suburbs co working spaces are now also operating out of malls and hotels across cities many large office parks are also housing co working spaces this helps companies to remain closer to their employees and offer them flexibility