CoWorking is exploding
The number of CoWorking spaces is around 20,000 world wide and expected to grow to 25,968 by 2022.
But who is this growth from?
Oddly enough, it is big business. Not the small independent guy. It is growing so fast, that every 7.5 days a new CoWorking space opens in NYC and while the amount of freelancers & independent workers is growing, they are not who’s filling these spaces.
Big Corporations have joined the bandwagon
Huge corporations, like Merck, Microsoft, Amazon1 and many others have moves some of their employees into CoWorking spaces like WeWork, Regis and others.
As of 2019, large companies, of over 500 employees, accounted for almost half of WeWorks members.
Why?
Because it is generally cheaper to rent CoWorking spaces than to use their own office space.
As an example, the average rate for a dedicated desk in the U.S. is $387/month while the average for a desk where you just grab what ever they have available is $195/month. Now in NY, the rates are $636 & $453 respectively.2
So what’s the problem?3
The problem is that this will be either pushing small independents out or forcing them to pay inflated rates, yet lower rents than renting a standard office space.
Notes:
- Merck is from the original article while MS & Amazon are from: Big Corporations That Use WeWork
- This post is a rework and condensed version of this article from CNBC
- This is the opinion of the author, Guy S. Hoops and may not be the opinion of anyone else at LehighValleyCoWoking.com, SoBeCoWorks or anyone involved with either organization.
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