Big corporate offices are out, cool co-working spaces are in. But now they dominate the urban landscape, they will need to adapt—Amarit Charoenphan explains how
Once the preserve of hipster freelancers in Brooklyn, Hackney, Sheung Wan and Tianzifang, co-working spaces have now flooded the mainstream and are stealthily taking over our cities. WeWork, the US group that pioneered the concept of trendy co-working spaces for millennials, has evolved into an international giant, operating in more than 60 cities around the world.
It arrived in the UK in 2014 and since then has accrued the second highest number of offices after the British government. Think about that for a moment; it rents more office space in the city than Google, Amazon or any multi-national British firm.
In Asia, meanwhile, there was a 150 percent year-on-year increase in co-working spaces in 2018, and statistics show that 80 percent of co-workers are under 40, meaning that figure will shoot up as Generation Z ages into the workplace. Many of these new spaces have been founded in Thailand—Asia’s co-working capital—by Amarit Charoenphan, the CEO of Hubba, which is the country’s number one co-working hub and online community platform.
"The growth of co-working spaces will [continue to] accelerate around the world as people realise working together collaboratively beats working alone," he says. "You get the best facilities and services at an amazing location at a fraction of the price of a typical lease and without any of the hassle. For small teams, the close proximity to other entrepreneurs, investors, service providers and support networks could mean the difference between life and death. Co-working is here to stay"
However, as co-working spaces begin to dominate our urban landscapes and change our work culture, they are going to have to start offering more than just a desk and a fast Wi-Fi connection. We speak to Charoenphan to find out how co-working spaces will need to adapt to a world where half the population is freelance, and their offices are the new normal.