WeWork India pivots to ‘workspace as a service’, eyes higher margins from managed offerings

WeWork India is repositioning itself from a traditional coworking space provider to a broader managed services partner, as it looks to tap deeper enterprise demand and improve profitability, Managing Director and CEO Karan Virwani said.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Virwani said the shift reflects how client requirements have evolved since WeWork entered the Indian market nearly eight years ago. While the company initially catered largely to startups and mid-sized firms seeking flexible office space, demand from large enterprises has since reshaped its business model.

“We move from co-working to now what we’re doing is workspace as a service,” Virwani said, adding that WeWork India now serves a wide spectrum of users, from freelancers requiring short-term desks to multinational companies looking for large, customised office footprints.

According to Virwani, closer engagement with enterprise customers has also given the company insights into how organisations are adapting to hybrid work and operational restructuring. This has created opportunities beyond physical office infrastructure, particularly in areas companies prefer to outsource rather than manage in-house.

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Services such as employee transportation, food and beverage management, and workplace experience design are increasingly being offered as part of WeWork’s portfolio. “Over time, we want to move up the value chain and try to do a bit more for these companies,” Virwani said, allowing clients to focus on their core business operations.

Value-added services currently account for around 14–15% of WeWork India’s revenue, a higher contribution than many of its peers, Virwani noted. Even incremental growth in this segment could significantly impact profitability. “Even if it moves up 1–2%, at this base of revenue, it almost all flows down to the bottom line,” he said, explaining that these services largely involve operational execution rather than capital-intensive investments.

Virwani added that the transition will be gradual, with a measured scaling of offerings, particularly for enterprise clients that are becoming increasingly comfortable outsourcing non-core functions.

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WeWork India expects value-added services to contribute a few additional percentage points to revenue in the near to medium term, directly supporting margin expansion. The company is not rushing the shift but is aligning its strategy with evolving workplace trends and enterprise outsourcing preferences.

WeWork India’s current market capitalisation stands at approximately ₹8,056.81 crore, reflecting investor focus on its transition toward higher-margin, services-led growth.