Coworking | Vestian

COWORKING: More than just a trend

Co- working, a relatively new concept is the use of an office space by people who are self-employed or working for different employers, typically to share equipment, ideas, and knowledge. In the recent years, co-working has impacted the global market tremendously and it is a distinct possibility that we would see a world where companies and human resources set objectives, achieve them and all this, without a corporate office.

As technology evolves, the definition of office could also undergo a drastic change. The traditional office where a group of people come together to achieve same goals will give way to creative spaces that are not confined. Global Co-Working Survey reveals that there will be an increasingly flexible workforce, working on parallel ideas, missions and vision without the traditional office-setup.
According to 2020 Intuit Report, statistics suggest that about 33% of the human resource is already independent, falling under the category of freelancers, contractors, solopreneurs, etc. This figure is certain to rise up to 40% by the year 2020.

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Source: huffingtonpost.com

Over the past couple of years, many countries have witnessed drastic evolution in Co-Working shared spaces. Chicago stands out as one of the prominent cities in U.S. where over 40 co-working spaces have come up within the past 3-4 years.

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Global Distribution of Co-Working Space

Source: coworkingmap.org

Forbes India last year published that, over 3100 start-ups are present in India, making it the third largest base for entrepreneurs in the world. More than 800 start-ups are mushrooming annually, and the lookout for an affordable workspace has gotten even more intense. Nasscom in partnership with Telangana has launched a Start-up Warehouse, giving out 10000 start-up programs. Other Indian cities like Delhi, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad are high in offering co-working spaces and some have even managed to break-even. In places like Mumbai, where starting a business is very expensive, co-working breaks barriers in real estate and helps obtain the best work environment.

Apart from India, the top co-working countries are United States, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, Japan, France, Brazil.

Co-working being economical, hassle-free, abundant with support staff, equipped with the necessary amenities and open to networking facilitates, recreation opportunity, dismisses the feeling of isolation and gives the employees ample opportunities to enjoy work. Absorbing fresh ideas and collaborating with like-minded professionals from different industries enhances creativity and productivity. It also provides integrity and steadfastness to an otherwise unknown business/start-up aiding in growth of the business (new clients, income growth, productivity). Co-working offers enormous network opportunities, camaraderie, events and happenings, sharing of skills and knowledge, high levels of interface, assisted providence and value for new and existing business. Adding to that, many owners of co-working spaces are providing theme-based/ recreational spaces to inspire people. Most co-working spaces do not require a lease agreement; instead they work on the model of membership on a daily/monthly/yearly basis, inclusive of supporting changes in the team size or a location change..71% say that co-working is a creativity booster while 62% report an improvement in the working standards.

According to Deskmag and SocialWorkplaces.com, co-working spaces have increased almost 400% in the last few months; there are around half a million people working in more than 7800 co-working spaces around the globe. Add to it, another 10,000 co-working spaces is expected by the end of this year. By 2018, the number of co-working spaces is expected to rise by 37,000 spaces across all continents with memberships expected to swell by 2,370,000 professionals.

This figure is certain to multiply manifold in the near future and as report suggests, co-working would drive the economy. There is a lot to watch out for as co-working makes greater headway. Co-working as a community concentrates on being the future of business and is equivalent to higher success for start-ups and businesses beyond, being advantageous and valuable in the long and short run.

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