Coworking Space: Best Place to Work?

Sumber artikel disusun oleh: Bahagian Data Strategik Dan Teknologi Masa Hadapan, Kementerian Tenaga, Sains, Teknologi, Alam Sekitar Dan Perubahan Iklim (MESTECC).

Artikel TFD, MESTECC

Co-Working Place

It was not too long ago when working from the café while sipping coffee and enjoying free Wi-Fi all day long is being preferred than sitting in a structured office environment or getting distracted with daily chores if you work from home (trust me, been there, done that). However, this trend does come with its limitation, with the constant need to be near to the power plug, distractions and the safety of your belongings when you need to go to the washroom. And if you are an entrepreneur or a startup owner, the lack of chances to network and socialise with others.

Enters Office 2.0 or more well known as Coworking Space. Started in 2005 as a grassroots movement to bring together lonely software coders, it has now morphed into a multi-billion dollars industry, with global leading coworking space provider WeWork valued at an astonishing USD$47 billion (CEOworld Magazine, 2019)! There are currently 18,900 coworking spaces globally (Deskmag, 2018) and 183 spaces can be found in Malaysia (coworker.com, 2019).

So, what are coworking spaces? Coworking spaces are essentially share workspaces. They offer affordable office space for those looking to escape the isolation of a home office or coffee shop. These shared workspaces offer key services, conveniences and comfort to create a workplace community, lifestyle support and provide opportunities to network and mingle with one another.

In the early days, occupants of the coworking spaces are freelancers, part-timers, professionals, start-up owners and entrepreneurs. However, with the advancement of digital technology, millennials coming into the workforce and the rise of startups as an important part of the economy, big corporations (IBM, Intel, KPMG) are moving their employees into these coworking spaces too. Besides lowering their expenses, coworking spaces offer fresh ideas and the opportunities to connect with startups and businesses (coworker.com, 2017).

With the number of coworking members set to rise to 3.8 million by 2020 and  5.1 million by 2022, the coworking space industry is only going to grow bigger. Here we list down some of the emerging and potentials trends with the coworking space industry. 

• Regional and international players will develop collaboration among themselves or acquisition to provide better benefits and access to coworking spaces for their members who travel frequently abroad for work. 
• Coworking space companies are using technology (software to capture conference room booking, sensors to track smartphones, Bluetooth for check-ins, thermal and motion detectors to track movement) to collect and analyse information about how people move and operate within offices (Bloomberg Businessweek, 2019). 
• With all the data collected and analysed, these insights will provide coworking space providers to better construct their existing and future office design to better suit the needs of their members. 
• At the same time, they become the design consultants to big corporations to design, maximise square footage and amenities to ensure their employees are comfortable at work. From cost saving perspective, it is estimated these corporations will save from 25% to 50% in operating expenses (CBinsights, 2019). 
• With many pricey and unsold residential properties around cities, there is a big potential to merge working and lifestyle space together with living space. This concept is currently on trial in Kuala Lumpur but will well execution and planning, this will have a massive impact on the property and hotel industry around the world.

There is a lesson learned for us in MESTECC from this coworking space trend. It would be great if we can look into how we utilise our working space and if these spaces are well designed for our employees to work, to generate new ideas and to collaborate with others. We can start by rethink and redesign the kind of library everyone would like to visit. At the same time, instead of having our retreats or functions at hotels, we can host our functions at these coworking spaces with better package and quality services. The infographic below highlighted some statistics on the coworking space industry. There are some interesting infographics attached together in the email for a better understanding on this industry.

Thank you.

FT Insights 4/2019:  Coworking Space: Best Place To Work?

..HYS, TFD, MESTECC...
 

Artikel TFD, MESTECC