Market Insights: Australia's Flexible Office Space Market Report - Q3 2024
The future is flexible. Find space no matter where in the world you are! Here are 5 reasons why Coworking Spaces are perfect for the hybrid workforce.
Prior to the pandemic, remote work was often seen as a luxury reserved only for consultants, solopreneurs, and a few specific roles such as phone and technical support. But with the need to slow the spread, businesses across Australia and the UK were forced to send workers home in what has become the greatest remote work experiment ever.
While many business owners and CEOs feared that this move would hamper productivity, others have found that their employees have actually become more efficient working from home. On the flip side, employees have discovered that they no longer need to be tied to a physical office setting to be a valuable member of their team and now wish to work remotely at least a few days per week once the pandemic subsides. In response, businesses have opted to give employees a flexible option with more of a hybrid arrangement.
Though the term “flexible” will still need to be defined in the workplace policies of the future, the potential reality is that remote work gives more employees the option to travel and work more freely than they could do so in the past. Rather than just working from the home office, why not set up shop in another city or country with your entire family in tow?
With the rise of serviced offices and coworking spaces, there’s less of a need to give up the comforts of the office and high-speed Wifi just because you’re traveling. Whether it’s serviced offices in Australia, the UK, or around the globe, there are more options available to meet your evolving work needs.
Here are 5 options to Work from Anywhere after the pandemic:
If you travel to the UK and want a temporary office that also provides accommodation options, LABS UK, a London-based coworking provider, offers both. Outside of offering furnished offices across multiple London locations, they also provide member discounts to its STAY locations, letting you save on gorgeous serviced apartments during your time in London.
Easily accessible from LAB's office locations, rooms at STAY are designed with productivity in mind, letting you feel like you’re at home even when you’re on the road. With LABS and STAY, you can extend your London trip and experience the city like a local without compromising your productivity in the office.
Perhaps your travel isn’t isolated to a single location. If your job takes you around the world, a global office provider might be a better option. Companies including WeWork and Spaces provide coworking locations in many large cities and come equipped with your preferred amenities and tech needs.
Owned by IWG, Spaces operates over 420 serviced offices in locations worldwide, including Austria, Belgium, Germany, Morocco, Brazil, South Korea, Australia, India, China, Japan, and many more. Most locations are in larger cities, so you might have to search if your travels take you to a more remote destination.
WeWork also provides hundreds of global locations in most major metropolitan areas throughout Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia, along with locations in South America and Africa. They offer a monthly all-access membership that lets you use hot desks, meeting rooms, and other facilities at any of their locations worldwide.
While you’re more likely to find a wider range of serviced office spaces in a large business hub, there are still options if you decide to go a little more remote. If you seek the sun and adventure when you’re not working, you also find coworking options in sunny locations such as Mallorca, Bali, or the Algarve in Portugal to help get your work done in between some well-deserved leisure time.
Nidus Coworking offers 2 locations in Mallorca designed to inspire creativity and productivity. They also host networking events so you can mingle with other members and make some friends to see during your stay. Located in Canggu, Bali, Tropical Nomad offers private offices, meeting spaces, and event spaces with flexible rental terms giving you the opportunity to tour the island during your downtime.
For Portugal-bound, the Faro Avenida business center offers an office at the doorstep of the Algarve with hot desks and private offices available to keep you focussed during office hours.
Traveling the world and setting up an office in various locations is not just for individuals. Although it is more difficult logistically to relocate a whole team, your company can still offer shorter getaways that let workers bond without keeping them from their daily responsibilities.
Sun and Co.a company based in Javea, Spain will organize and facilitate corporate retreats for your team. With everyone in one location, you’ll have all amenities required for robust meetings, complete with activities to facilitate conversations while enjoying the surroundings.
If you don’t want a retreat but still want to draw some inspiration from the surroundings, serviced office providers like Cowork Me in Australia provide meeting rooms as well as event planning services. Its beautiful location will serve as a respite for employees, while the fully equipped conference rooms let you host meetings and generate ideas without worrying about technology.
For a mix of options, there’s also Surf Office. This company offers 26 coastal locations in the United States and Europe, including apartments, retreat villas, and coworking spaces. If you want to host a retreat for company bonding while still offering office space for essential tasks, Surf Office has a number of locations that fit the bill.
While some people prefer to travel and work alone, others feel more comfortable as part of a community. If you’re one of the latter, you might be interested in co-living. Unlike a hotel, coliving gives you your own accommodations with daily events that let you network with others in the building. Two such companies offering coliving space include The Collective and WeLive.
The Collective has living spaces in London and New York, including studio apartments and single rooms. Book a short or long-term stay based on your needs and mingle with your fellow travelers.
WeLive, a subsidiary of WeWork offers fully furnished apartments in New York and Washington, DC that can be rented for short and long-term stays. You get your own private space with amenities that let you mingle and interact with your neighbors, including gaming rooms, a chef’s kitchen, and a lounge.
As businesses continue to adapt to the pandemic and changing workforce, there’s no doubt more workers than ever will have the option to work from where they work best without being tethered to an office. Whether your work takes you to London, Sydney, Spain, or around the world, your office can now be wherever you want it to be.
As specialist brokers in the flexible office market, Rubberdesk is across all the options, offers and availability. We have real time pricing for thousands of spaces listed by hundreds of providers to help find your next office.
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Serviced office space offers far lower capital hurdles and less liabilities than traditional leased space, freeing up the balance sheet, an especially attractive proposition in a post- Covid 19 recovery. Additionally, the choice is not binary between employees either working from home or in a central head office. There are more options available to remote workers that can keep them safe and productive closer to home and without having to share public transport.
The safety of this setup is a concern for members and interested prospects alike — and rightly so. All the big operators have taken significant steps to decrease risk. The New York-based behemoth WeWork, for example, has taken the following measures include: increased sanitization, personal protective equipment, single-use products, staggered seating and socially distanced layouts, improved air quality, direction and approval from experts, and behavioral signage With these measures and more in place, serviced offices have never been safer, and some of the changes might be here to stay. Look into the spaces near you to find out exactly how they’re putting safety first during this unprecedented time.