Regus, provider of flexible workplaces, is set to make major investments to capitalise on the accelerating global trend toward flexible working. Research data from the last 18 months has shown remarkable strengthening in flexible work policies, not just in mature markets, but also in emerging economies, including India.
Over the next three years, Regus will invest to increase its global network by at least 75 per cent, equating to over 800 additional business centres. The majority of growth will take place across emerging markets such as India, China, Brazil and India, as well as the USA.
This move will also take the company into an additional 30 new countries, including Slovenia, Uruguay, Nepal and Madagascar.
Even with the current economic uncertainties in Europe and the US, Regus is experiencing record levels of enquiries. Across the group its last set of financial reports showed an all-time high occupancy rate of 86.7%. In India the figure is even higher.
There is a wide-ranging body of research data evidencing the mainstream trend towards flexible working, and underpinning accelerating demand for flexible workspace, including:-
- 60% of businesses globally, and 59% in India state that flexible working costs less than fixed office working saving tens of thousands of dollars per employee per year
- 41% globally and 31% in India also say that flexible working increases staff productivity
- 60% of employees globally, and 70% in India say flexible working creates a better work-life balance
- 80% of companies globally state that flexible working policies attract and retain skilled staff
- 25% of firms think globally business centres provide access to better communications technology
- 81% of all companies now offer part of their workforce some form of flexible working
- Today there are over 1bn mobile workers, predicted to rise rapidly to 1.2bn by 2013,
- In India the number of internet users is expected to go from 80 million today to 450 million in 2015
To capitalise on the rising demand for flexible workspace, Regus is rapidly growing its network in India, has already opened four new centres so far this year. The latest additions include new locations at Andheri West in Mumbai and Vashi, Navi Mumbai. These follow recent openings in Fort in Mumbai and Hitech City in Hyderabad.
Mark Dixon, Regus CEO, says, “Demand for flexible workplaces is clearly burgeoning, the main driver of which is growing awareness of cost savings to be made by converting to flexible working, enabled by developments in cloud and ‘work anywhere’ technology. Looking at the research we have commissioned across the globe over the last 18 months, together with independent third party sources, it is clear that flexible, mobile working is the new normal.”
Madhusudan Thakur, Regus Regional Vice President, South Asia adds: “We are increasingly helping Indian entrepreneurs, SMEs and corporations to take advantage of the flexible working trend, as well as helping international businesses enter the Indian market. With demand in India up by over 40% year-on-year, and occupancy at record highs, our latest openings in Andheri West and Navi Mumbai will help expand our network across the country, and underlines our commitment to India.”
Regus customers include more than half of the Fortune 500 including Starbucks, Google, Accenture and GlaxoSmithKline. In the last three years its customer base has quadrupled to more than 900,000 as business people have embraced the multiple benefits of flexible working.
