With the growing popularity and demand for remote work, coworking space is expected to show continued growth over the next several years.  Younger workers favor flexible office space over traditional office settings, according to BBG, a leading commercial real estate due diligence firm.

The coworking office trend has drawn mostly a younger generation who finds this an appealing workplace alternative in today's sharing economy.  The number of the nation's flexible office spaces is expected to grow at an annual rate of 6% until 2022.

Coworking spaces accounted for more than 25 million square feet in the 30 top U.S. markets. Manhattan ranked the highest in flexible office space (12.5 million square feet), followed by Boston (3 million square feet) and Seattle (2 million square feet). 

"The proliferation of coworking office buildings reflects a monumental change in the way today's society views the workplace," said BBG CEO Chris Roach. "Flexible office space gives people the opportunity to meet and interact with others who have different skills and backgrounds that may not be otherwise available in a traditional office environment."

A study by Harvard Business Review (HBR) found that there are three main reasons that workers thrive in coworking spaces:

1.      They have more job control.  Those that work in a coworking space can make their own hours, choose whether they need a quiet space or more interaction via a shared table, etc.  The space is typically available 24/7.

2.      They feel part of a community.  As opposed to working at home, workers in coworking spaces have a community of workers to collaborate with and socialize with. But interaction isn’t forced; it’s based on each worker’s preferences.

3.      They see their work as meaningful. Because there is virtually no internal politics, workers don’t feel they have to “put on a work persona” to fit in.  The values of most coworking spaces include “community, collaboration, learning, and sustainability.”  

Coworking is evolving to serving more than just freelancers and entrepreneurs.  Some organizations now utilize coworking spaces for their employees.  Michael Kenny, Managing Partner of San Diego-based Co-Merge, told HBR, “In the past year and a half, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the use of the space by enterprise employees. We have seen teams come in to use various on-demand meeting rooms. We have users from global companies of size ranging from several hundred to several thousand employees who use the space not only to allow their distributed workers to get productive work done, but also to attract employees who demand flexible workplace and work time.”

According to a survey by coworking space provider Fueled Collective:

• Only 50% of their members self-identified as individual workers (consultants, freelancers, or telecommuters)

• 40% categorized themselves as employees (people who work for an employer at a co-working space)

• 10% classified themselves as employers (business owners or business unit managers who had employees)

Organizations that utilize coworking spaces have experienced improved recruitment efforts, reduced real estate costs, increased flexibility, and improved employee satisfaction.

Sources: HR Dive; Harvard Business Review; Entreprenuer.com