Coworking spaces are continuing to boom across the world, particularly in the face of COVID-19.
New spaces are opening weekly, and Workspace365 is one of these successful enterprises. The flexible and collaborative environment certainly isn’t going anywhere soon, and the pandemic continues to accelerate the need for accessible spaces within the suburbs.
In creating these spaces across neighbourhoods, employees could access all the resources they need to operate from ‘home’ without distractions, just a short bike ride or walk away. During a time when many businesses aren’t back to full capacity, a flexible corporate culture is still needed. It is perhaps the way society will continue to move forward after the pandemic.
Bridging the divide for coworking in the suburbs
The emerging cultural shift across the globe is changing modern office procedures, as employees don’t want to travel into the city on crowded trains and buses any longer.
The risk, however, calls for shared environments within suburbia. Having the ability to walk or ride to the office is more appealing, as distances can be kept minimal and give individuals a better sense of convenience. We believe our shared spaces are a perfectly sensible compromise between working from the office or home (without the travel time).
It’s not just about COVID and safety – the demand to change the way we operate as businesses is a continual consideration for various reasons. This platform saves on overheads, businesses can grow when staff are around other like-minded creatives, and the office space is maintained for you, usually in a sustainable way.
However, there is still a divide because most of these workspaces are within large cities – which limits the clientele using these offices, especially with the rise of freelancers who this environment would perfectly suit.
Where to from here?
While there is a demand, will we see growth in the suburbs any time soon?
We already proudly operate amongst some smaller suburbs and coastal towns across Australia, but we recognise this is just a small contribution for now. More people need to get on board to effectively get the most out of this boom, while not over-committing when a slight dip may happen ‘after’ the pandemic. This is entirely achievable within Melbourne’s cities, with 97% of locals living within a 2km radius of a commercial shopping strip (RMIT News, 2020).
As society continues to change due to the significant events we have all been living through, it is understood that the flexible, collaborative setup doesn’t suit everyone. Still, niche spaces need to be considered moving forward to translate to the expectations that are now reality, especially as businesses get back on their feet after what created forced downtime for many.
So where to from here? At workspace 365, we plan to grow and best serve our community as the demand requires. While the world continues to change and the need for coworking in the suburbs increases, logic suggests the industry will continue to grow and deliver.