Ggm: Corporate hubs emerge as Covid-19 hotspots

Gurugram: Corporate hubs in the city are now turning out to be major hotspots of COVID-19 cases. Even as a large number of cases are being reported from almost all parts of the city, it is the corporate hubs that are proving to be areas where the largest number of cases are being reported.

In DLF Phase-3, where Cyber City is situated there have already been 40 cases reported in the last one week. On a daily basis, there are at least five to six cases reported from DLF Phase-3.

Significantly, Cyber City houses the official premises of 150 of the richest companies across the globe in terms of market valuation.

However, officials are now also having to deal with cases being reported from Sector-44, Udyog Vihar, Manesar and Sector 32 — some of the other corporate hubs in Gurugram.

In this situation, the companies now have also begun to take precautionary measures. Most of the companies, especially in the IT sector, have advised their employees to continue working from home."While the offices have started, I have still been told to work from home by the management of the company. All the technological support has been arranged in my home by my company," said Raghav Malik who works in one of the IT firms of Gurugram.

A hub for IT firms, office supply sectors have also been witnessing a huge demand in Gurugram. In 2019, 65 per cent of overall transactions in the office rental market occurred in Gurugram with 5.5 million square feet of the office space being leased. Gurugram has also been a preferred location for co-working spaces with 1.53 million square feet of working space being rented.

With COVID-19 now resulting in flexible workspaces for many employees, market experts have projected that the rentals for leasing office spaces will see a dip to the tune of 20 to 30 percent. The average office rent in Gurugram stands at around Rs 86 per square feet.

While service firms are making changes to their working schedule, most manufacturing units, out of no choice, are asking their workers to come to work despite an increasing number of cases being reported from industrial areas.