Coworking, the work model that will best adapt to the crisis?

The year 2020 was full of surprises, most of them bad. COVID has changed many of our habits. First, it is our relationship to work that has been turned upside down. If the second lockdown does not require teleworking, it seems obvious that this habit will take hold all over the world. In Canada, the number of job advertisements offering this way of working has doubled. In France, however, it seems that business leaders understand this development but do not approve of it by many.

An investigation made by daily newspaper 20minutes revealed numerous cases of refusal of consensus with employees on the subject. Even though increasingly sophisticated control tools exist, bosses seem to deplore the loss of control over their employees and the lack of emulation created by a team operating in the same room.

On the employee side, the formula is not unanimous either. Many report suffering from loneliness and inadequate facilities. There is therefore a trade-off between the right to protect yourself from too much exposure to the world during COVID, and the need for a stimulating work environment. In this context, coworkings, formerly reserved for startups and freelancers, seem to be doing well. These workspaces are attracting many new clients. In particular workers of large companies. Coworking, the workplace of tomorrow? Response elements.

Offers that have attracted new customers

It is by offering new ways of operating that coworkings have won over businesses. Especially the one that only charges for days of use, thus offering more flexibility. “If a worker only needs an office for one day a week, for example, the company will only pay one day a week. Coworking will not charge for the following 4 days since the office will be made available to other people “explains Eveline Rigouts, operational director of Fosbury and Soon coworking. Large companies no longer hesitate to book entire parts of coworking areas to recreate a clean working atmosphere. Adaptation periods are also set up to allow employees to find their own rhythm and needs.

The final advantage of this offer: it allows managers to give their employees more autonomy. “with coworking, companies can give workers the flexibility to choose the workspace where they will be most efficient. Sometimes it will be at home, for tasks that require more concentration, and sometimes it will be in the office, for brainstorming, for example, “says Eveline Rigouts. In short, coworking offers have improved. They have also sprouted heavily all over the world.

Coworking spaces are expanding beyond cities

Initially present mainly in the centers of large metropolitan areas, coworking spaces are starting to appear in more peripheral areas, even in the countryside. This allows workers to find a stimulating environment while saving transport time. “The idea is to work close to home, but not at home” analyzes Jean-Olivier Collinet of Jobyourself. The expansion of coworking spaces is particularly notable and appreciated in Ile-de-France. A region where the hours spent in transport and commute is tremendous.

Minority trend back then, it tends to accelerate today, half of the coworking spaces which are created are established outside the metropolitan areas. Very good news, as the subject is so important for the future. It concerns both mobility and ecology and the socio-economic development of territories. This trend is leading to the emergence of new forms of work organization.

Thanks to their agility, coworkings are gaining ground. To the point of establishing itself as an increasingly widely used solution. Even by users who recently had never been interested in this way of working. So, will the future form of working be all in coworking? Nothing is less sure.