Office rental company IWG said on Friday it plans to add more than 1,000 new locations globally in 2022, with particular focus on suburban areas, due to increasing demand for the hybrid work model in a post-pandemic environment.

The London-listed company's decision comes at a time when office landlords are slowly recovering following the COVID-19 pandemic, with businesses shifting to a permanent hybrid model in which employees split work between home and office.

"The shift from fixed workspace to flex is now irreversible and the business will continue to accelerate its growth adding a thousand locations in the next year alone," said Chief Executive Officer Mark Dixon at the international property conference MIPIM.

The owner of the Spaces and Regus brands has around 3,500 buildings in more than 120 countries and counts 83% of the Fortune 500 firms among its global customer base. IWG, however, did not provide net addition of its centres for the year, which also takes into account closures if any.

IWG's customers can get access to the firm's wide network of locations, with various plans available for clients to opt from, giving employees the much-needed flexibility on geographical terms as well.

The Switzerland-headquartered firm earlier this month said it would merge its digital assets with flexible workspace platform The Instant Group as office space providers benefit from the hybrid work trend.

(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel)