Flexible Workspaces Surge as 73% of Office Searches Shift Beyond Traditional Leasing: myHQ Report

myHQ has released a comprehensive report highlighting a major shift in India’s office space demand, with 73% of all searches now focused on flexible workspaces, while traditional leasing accounts for less than 27%.

The report, titled “How India Searches for its Office Needs?”, is one of the first large-scale demand-side analyses of the market. It is based on 387,000 verified workspace enquiries across 30 countries, combined with geographic insights, nine years of search data, and SEO analytics, offering a real-time view of evolving workspace preferences.

According to the findings, coworking-related searches are generating five times the volume of traditional office queries. While traditional office searches have grown by 48% since 2022, flexible workspace demand continues to significantly outpace them.

Utkarsh Kawatra, Co-Founder and CEO of myHQ, noted that search behaviour is evolving beyond generic queries. Professionals are increasingly looking for specific solutions such as meeting rooms, day offices, and virtual addresses, reflecting a shift from “searching for offices” to “searching for outcomes.”

Use-case-driven demand is now dominant. Meeting room searches have surged by 187% over the past three years, growing from 34,000 to 98,000 monthly searches. Virtual office searches have increased by 99%, while day pass searches have risen by 20%. These categories now account for nearly 90% of total coworking-related demand.

Managed office spaces are also gaining traction, with search queries for the segment growing by 778% since 2022. However, overall search volumes remain significantly lower than coworking, indicating a gap between industry terminology and user search behaviour.

The report also highlights sustained growth in demand post-pandemic. Annual coworking-related searches have increased from an average of 57,000 (2017–2019) to 107,000 between 2022 and early 2026, marking an 88% rise. Search activity peaked in July 2025 and continues to remain elevated.

Sustainability is emerging as a key consideration in workspace selection. Seven of the top ten most-searched office parks in India are green-certified developments, collectively accounting for over 66% of search volume, indicating that environmentally responsible spaces are becoming a default preference.

The report also points to changing demographics in decision-making. Women now account for 24.2% of total workspace enquiries, with cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, and Coimbatore showing higher participation rates.

International demand is also rising, with overseas searches contributing 3% of total office-related queries in India. Among these, the United States leads with 28.9%, followed by the United Kingdom (12.8%) and the United Arab Emirates (11.9%). This growth is driven by Global Capability Centre expansions, NRI business registrations, and return migration trends.

The findings underline a clear transformation in India’s office market, where flexibility, specificity, and sustainability are shaping the next phase of workspace demand.
Click to view PDF