WEWORK SEES OPPORTUNITY IN NEW WORK MODEL CREATED BY COVID-19

Business Today speaks to Ray Tan, Head of Growth for SEA on the changing co-working landscape in Malaysia amid the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.

- POOVENRAJ KANAGARAJ

The Covid-19 outbreak that had consumed the world since December had impacted economies and industries globally. As nations went under lockdown, businesses had no choice but to adapt to the changing circumstances and along with the change, came new work practices.

In Malaysia, the Movement Control Order (MCO) was implemented on March 18 saw companies scrambling to decide on their next move which then led to an increase in the work-from-home practice.

While the work-from-home trend had penetrated the Malaysian working ecosystem for years, it was, however – for a time – seen as a practice only among young startups unable to afford rent space. Prior to this, co-working spaces had been the more popular choice for both international and local companies as well as freelancers.

Flexible working spaces are said to occupy about four percent of total Asia Pacific office stock and account for a slightly lower figure in the Grade A segment.

However, due to the Covid-19 outbreak, a CBRE Research report late-May pointed out that office demand in the Asia Pacific weakened significantly owing to the double impact of the fading economic growth prior to the onset of the virus outbreak. As demand in Greater China and Singapore was the first to be affected, other markets had also started showing signs of a slowdown in leasing activity as social distancing measures came into force.

“Some of the short-term downside risks to office demand will include more headcount reduction, along with faster consolidation in the flexible space industry,” CBRE states.