Firms eye satellite offices in tier-2, 3 cities

Hyderabad: After work-from-office and work-from-home, it is the work-from-anywhere concept that is now catching up fast. While employees and companies are slowly adapting to hybrid model of work, some employees still do not wish to come back to the office due to various reasons.

The topmost reason is that many employees working from their native towns and cities find it difficult to return to metros. To facilitate the smooth flow of work along with building a seamless work environment, many companies are now looking at satellite offices in tier 2 and 3 cities.

Smaller cities are now being adorned with swanky office spaces to facilitate seating for 50-100 employees in the case of smaller companies and 100-plus seating spaces for bigger ones.

Bharani K Aroll, ex-president of Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association and current CEO of Infopeers, points out that with several employees opting for hybrid work, many companies are betting big on the work-from-anywhere concept.

“Companies are looking at different models to facilitate work and setting up satellite offices in smaller towns has worked in their favour. These offices will not only help companies tap into local talent but also facilitate employees working from smaller cities to come to the office as per their convenience,” he says.

IT giants such as Accenture, IBM, TCS, Wipro and Infosys among others are planning new facilities in cities like Jaipur, Coimbatore, Kochi, Visakhapatnam and similar places. Zoho has also announced setting up 20-30 seater offices in rural and non-urban areas across India. Closer home, companies like Cyient and Tech Mahindra have set up their operations in smaller towns and cities of Telangana.

Awfis CSMO Sumit Lakhani says: “Post the second wave, employees and companies have felt confident to return to work. However, many businesses have had reduced liquidity making it difficult to sustain large offices. Therefore, satellite offices managed by flex space operators have emerged as an optimal solution.” Several factors like control over expenses, flexibility in lease terms and allowing the workforce to work from anywhere have enabled organisations to be location agnostic, and thus promote the concept of satellite offices, says Lakhani.