The way we work is changing. More than ever, businesses want flexibility, particularly when it comes to workspace. Gone are the days of long leases! Nowadays, many companies prefer not to be tied into long-term office contracts, instead opting for shorter pay-as-you-go agreements. The age of the startup is also upon us, and with young startups not knowing for sure where they will be in the next 12 months, let alone the next five to ten years, short-term lets offer a flexible and adaptable solution, and an office space that can grow with the company.
Technological advances have certainly driven this change and continue to fuel a global boom in coworking spaces. Due to the introduction of mobile technologies, collaboration tools and cloud services, agile working is easier, and more popular, than ever. These technological advances allow the modern workforce to be constantly on the move.
With access to a laptop, it’s now possible to work from any location and at any time. This has led to a need for spaces that foster collaboration as well as functionality, providing employees with a variety of working environments for every kind of work mode.
Hot desking and coworking spaces are therefore all the rage these days. Serviced offices offer the opportunity for workers to meet and collaborate with other keen creatives and benefit from high-cost items such as high-speed wifi, formal meeting spaces and luxury amenities that may be inaccessible if not a part of this sharing economy. So, technology and the sharing economy have leveled the playing field between small businesses and larger corporations by making costly technologies readily available, improving productivity and removing any real estate commitments.
From shopping to banking to communications, technology has changed almost every aspect of our modern lives. Digital disruption is everywhere, so it’s no surprise that technologies have revolutionised the office space market, as well as office space design. With the coworking trend growing at an increasing rate, offices are striving to offer the newest and best tech to keep up with demand. From smart desks which allow workers to personally control lights and heating, to smart printing which helps to cut out courier costs by creating immediate prototypes, the coworking environment is ever changing and becoming ever more appealing, all thanks to technology.
So, where next? Commercial property investors have been quick to respond to the changing demand for office spaces but we may be seeing the way we work change in a completely new way. “PropTech” is slowly beginning to disrupt the property industry with the common goal of improving customer experience by transforming the agent-tenant relationship. A flexible workspace is what our modern day workforce wants and the coworking environment offers just that.
