Raising The Bar

India Inc.’s new address is a co-working space. This cafe-bar chain has made the restaurant-by-night and office-by-day trend popular

- Barry Rodgers

The modern workplace isn’t defined by stuffy cubicles and mammoth walls. As India emerges as one of the biggest markets in the world for tech-based start-ups, workspaces are transforming from traditional and hierarchical to relaxed and bar-like. The match makes sense. Rather than renting whole offices, co-working spaces allow start-ups, freelancers and consultants to pay monthly fees for shared equipment and desk space, where they often work elbow-to-elbow with one another.

Spearheading this concept in India is restaurant operator Impresario Handmade Restaurants and their ‘Social’ concept. The popular cafe-bar chain allows young professionals to work and play. Social has everything an office has except, of course, the air of gloom. Phew.