The COVID-19 pandemic revolutionized the way of working.
Unlike earlier, professionals do not want to be a part of the rigid 9-to-5 office setup. They desire flexible workspaces with career growth opportunities.
No wonder, there’s a heavy surge in coworking.
Coworking offers state-of-the-art amenities while ensuring a happy workforce. The shared collaborative spaces allow professionals to network with peers, colleagues, and mentors. This can help companies boost their ROI while ensuring employee growth.
Considering these perks, even top companies like Microsoft and Amazon have switched to coworking.
In this post, we will discuss the current state of the global coworking market space.
The Current State of the Global Coworking Market Space
#1: The Growth of Coworking
Launched in 2005 by Brad Neuberg, San Francisco was the first coworking company. Despite the benefits of coworking, corporates dismissed the idea as a wannabe lounge. Only a few firms, such as Instagram, Spotify, and Uber, embraced coworking.
However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, coworking stood out as the best workplace solution. Several leading firms, including Knotel, District Cowork, and Regus, invested in coworking. At present, there are over 19K global coworking spaces.
Industry experts state that the figure will quadruple in the upcoming years.
Check out this insightful infographic by The Address reflecting the evolution of the coworking market across the years.
#2: Key Types of Coworking Layouts in Demand
Coworking offers diverse seating arrangements, including studio cabins, team bundles, private desks, and more. However, coworkers prefer shared desks, Flexi spaces, private desks, and dedicated meeting rooms over others.
Here’s a screenshot depicting the demand for different types of coworking layouts.
These coworking layouts help create a productive work environment for distinct job roles. For instance, shared desks can be suitable for creative professionals that require exchanging ideas with colleagues. Similarly, employees in job roles like accounting can opt for private cabins to ensure focus and accuracy in work.
The best part? The average cost of coworking is much less than conventional offices. Organizations, especially SMBs, can save a hefty amount and maintain cash flow.
This enables young entrepreneurs, especially SMB owners, to focus on scaling their businesses rather than combatting budget issues.
For instance, they do not need to take care of office security. Most coworking spaces ensure complete security. From CCTVs to visitor management systems, coworking spaces are well-equipped with working essentials.
Unlike traditional offices, coworking spaces come with a pay-as-you-use (or pay-per-use) payment model. So, businesses only need to pay for the services they use. This can help small businesses manage their work and grow.
#3: Coworking Space Utilization
According to reports, European coworking spaces, on average, are 7,244 sq. ft. This is relatively smaller than the coworking spaces in countries like North America (9,799 sq.ft.) and Asia (8,101 sq. ft.).
Industry experts affirm that the success of coworking spaces depends on optimizing their usage.
So, the top global coworking provider countries like – the US, India, and the UK, are focusing on implementing productive space designs.
The purpose is to help employees enjoy a work-life balance.
Why Is Coworking Here to Stay?
From hiring employees to running high-cost marketing campaigns and investing in cutting-edge tools, entrepreneurs, especially SMB owners, often need to take expensive risks.
Plenty of them had to face failure before making it big. Several reports state that poor financial management is the top reason for a startup’s failure.
The main culprit of financial mishaps is creating a budget without acknowledging the “rainy day fund.”
While businesses cannot avoid partaking in expensive risks, they can always switch to shared workspaces. The shared spaces can enhance the business’s financial health while ensuring the employees are in a happy frame of mind. The best-in-class amenities and happy professional community can accelerate business growth.
Check out the growth forecast of the coworking industry.
As you can see, the coworking industry will experience a massive growth of 158% in 2024 compared to 2020. According to experts, over five million professionals will be seen coworking by 2024.
All this data reflects that coworking is not a temporary trend. It is here to stay and will change the way of working in 2023 and beyond.
Wrapping Up
Coworking can help organizations provide work flexibility while ensuring a positive company culture.
According to research, work culture is key to high employee engagement. No wonder, coworking demand surged 41% from the first to the second half of 2021.
The shared insights prove that the global coworking market will experience massive growth in the years to come.
So, entrepreneurs looking to scale their businesses should invest in coworking.
Read Also:
- Coworking Spaces: 4 Strategies on How To Improve Retention
- How To Keep Your Company Culture After Moving To A Coworking Space
- Growing Spaces – Why coworking Spaces Are Perfect for Startups
Author: Aanya Rachel is the Content Manager at The Address, a coworking space in Surat, Gujarat. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge, experience, and extensive research in this field. She writes on a wide range of topics related to coworking, the growth of remote workers, startups, and real estate.
