The growing sense of personal hygiene, social distancing and safety following the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has made people staying in paying guest (PG) accommodations and private hostels to move to facilities run by co-living companies that provide better living conditions, albeit at a slightly higher cost.
Last week, Tech Mahindra moved its staff numbering about 100 living in PG accommodation and elsewhere to a co-living facility run by Guesture at Electronics City, Bengaluru. More corporates are considering similar arrangements to protect their employees as the work-from-home culture is likely to continue.
Analysts said following the virus outbreak, the unorganised housing sector (PGs and private hostels) is facing major issues because of the health, hygiene, cleanliness, infrastructure, density and maintenance of the space during this hour of crisis. These places, according to them, are not best suited to adjust to work from home.
Sriram Chitturi, founder of Guesture and founding president of the Rental Housing Association of India said, “The transition from the unorganised to the organised sector has gained momentum. A lot of requests are coming from people and companies asking if we could accommodate them.”
“This mega trend is playing out in this industry. Earlier, when we cautioned them [corporates] about such living conditions, they were not that receptive. Today, COVID-19 has changed that attitude,” he added.
He said companies themselves would realise that there should be emphasis towards hygiene, cleanliness and standardisation.
“The unorganised players will be losing out substantially because governments have started enforcing rules on the number of people that can be accommodated in a particular space,” he said.
Besides, corporates have now realised that for their business continuity issues, their people must live and work from a place which does not lead to productivity loss.
