- Occupancy rates are on the rise, some co-working spaces at 70% capacity.
- A mixed approach floated, with some boutique spaces offering a third option between home and work.
- Big names like WeWork could make a strong comeback with new strategies on the cards.
The woes of 2020 haven’t left us yet, with COVID still rife around the world.
When co-working spaces were hit, it was widely reported it could be the demise of the industry.
Forbes even posed the question was it the end of co-working? and will coronavirus kill posterchild of co-working WeWork?
Now with various combinations of office work and work from home appearing across Australia, some are reporting it to be fertile ground for a co-working resurgence.
With corporations looking to downsize, and others growing weary of working from home, the element of community may be one factor that could warm workers to the idea of parting with their cash to join a co-working space.
Reported in The Age, The Commons – who have coworking spaces across Melbourne and Sydney – reported a boost in enquiries by 23 per cent when restrictions began to ease.
WeWork told the Australian Financial Review, their Eagle Street hub in Brisbane hit 70 per cent capacity in December last year.
The idea of having a third home from home seems potentially universal, Fortune.com interviewing office workers who expressed their desire to “… go someplace for a few hours to see different surroundings, have privacy, and get that energy from being in an office.”
Similar stories have come from the eastern seaboard, and coworking seeing a niche in the market, co-founder Galvin Davis telling yahoo finance:
“… boutique co working spaces are going to be something that offers brands, a third space between the chaos of the office and the distraction of home,”
Greater flexibility for the business model is on the cards, WeWork telling AFR they would be trialling a pay-as-you-go product in the near future.
It’s expected, then, that co-working spaces will have to change their models significantly, as they currently rely on packed hubs to make a buck.
