Alina Gomotirceanu, Regus Country Manager for Qatar
The growing demand for coworking spaces or flexible serviced office accommodation in Qatar is disrupting the country’s real estate sector, and the trend is expected to continue, with global forecasts saying that flexible workspaces are set to grow by more than 50 percent over the next four years, amidst changing dynamics in business environments, said an expert in flexible workspaces at Regus.
Regus, which is known as the world’s largest provider of flexible workspace solutions, has customers including some of the most successful entrepreneurs, individuals, and multi-billion dollar companies. Its network includes almost 3,000 business centres, spanning almost 900 cities across 120 countries.
In an interview with The Peninsula, Regus’ Country Manager for Qatar, Alina Gomotirceanu, said Qatar’s growing coworking industry has been attracting many budget-conscious international firms entering the Qatari market to expand their businesses in the region.
She added that flexible workspaces here serve all sectors including startups, real estate, SMEs, consultancies, and others. However, large companies are now also taking the flexible workspace approach into account to improve their employees’ productivity and reduce operational costs.
“According to real estate advisor Cushman and Wakefield Qatar, most lease agreements in the fourth quarter of 2018 involved startups and SMEs. As Qatar provides many investment opportunities in the Middle East, it attracts businesses from all over the world due to its facilities, flexible services and digital solutions. With the profile of investors changing, the demand for flexible workspace for expanding businesses in Qatar and beyond is increasing,” Gomotirceanu said.
She added that the coworking sector has emerged as a key growth driver within the office market, with some major corporates seeking to accommodate 30 percent of their total staff in coworking environments.
“In the past, commercial real estate leases have generally been in the range of five to seven years in length. However, the rise of coworking over the past five years has greatly disrupted the space. Coworking spaces now provide companies with a more flexible option, allowing start-ups to rent office space by the month as they find their footing, or allowing even more established companies to scale up offices quickly in new locations,” Gomotirceanu said.
She added: “The flex-space trend contributes to driving the commercial real estate sector. Although a move toward shorter leases may cause anxiety for some in the industry, taking advantage of this new trend can fill a gap in the workplace leasing model, while also opening up new revenue streams for commercial real estate owners. The growing demand for flexible workspace will help landlords change the way they work to increase their revenues from this promising sector, by proving more options for tenants”.
Gomotirceanu said the government’s economic diversification approach contributed to the expansion of serviced office market in Qatar.
“Doha is a booming city with a fast-growing economy, and there will be many new developments from now until the Fifa World Cup 2022. The serviced office market in Doha is therefore also expanding and the diversification approach adopted by the government has contributed to driving this sector. As a result, we have opened 9 centres in different locations in Doha to meet the rising demand for our services,” she added.
Globally, coworking spaces are known for having better office designs which are believed to be connected with greater employee productivity.
Gomotirceanu said, “Forward-thinking businesses are increasingly recognising the impact of office space on employees’ ability to perform well in their role. Research has shown how intelligently designed spaces can boost employees’ wellbeing and their productivity, and therefore, cut down on sick days while boosting a company’s competitive edge. Biophilic design principles, where nature is incorporated into architecture as much as possible to boost people’s exposure to it, are the way to go. The more greenery, fresh air and natural light, the better”.
Citing a study conducted by Harvard University, Gomotirceanu added that there’s a link between the quality of people’s indoor environment and their cognitive performance.
