𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗦𝗪𝗢𝗧 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀, 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁? 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲

There was a time, not so long ago, when coworking spaces were thought of as only a place for freelancers, bootstrapped founders, and the occasional digital nomad to escape the isolation of a kitchen table. That era is over. When I opened Collabor8te in Glasgow in 2014, I spent much of the time explaining what it was I was trying to do!

Coworking now though, has matured and become a key player in business infrastructure: a permanent, growing layer of the global office market that enterprises now 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝘀𝗲 rather than 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼.

𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝘀

𝗙𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴. No long lease, no CapEx, and the ability to scale up or down with headcount —the entire reason coworking exists. The current Global uncertainty only makes this more attractive.

𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆! 10 years ago, people thought “coworking” meant beanbags and freelancers. Now it increasingly hosts satellite offices for global multinational companies, and management agreements with institutional landlords are commonplace.

𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗮 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲. With desks-and-Wi-Fi now commoditised, well-run event programmes, wellness amenities, and service quality are becoming real differentiators that customers want and generic flex offices find difficult to replicate.

𝗪𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆. It takes around 9 to 12 months to break-even and as location is key, rent alone can swallow up to 40% of your operating costs. While it might look easy from the outside, this is a good business to be in, only if you execute it well.

𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘀. Big cities work, small towns often don’t. In smaller locations, only about a fifth of operators report a profit.

Occupancy is rising faster than revenue per desk in some regions according to many 2026 reports. Filling seats isn’t the same as getting paid properly for filling them, and that gap quietly erodes margin.

𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀. COVID proved the model can be hit disproportionately hard by anything that discourages in-person gathering — a risk that hasn’t gone away just because the pandemic has receded; it’s simply latent until the next disruption.

𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀

𝗔 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗯𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲. Shared spaces emptied overnight and for a while, it looked like an extinction event for the industry. The talk of the day was that workers would never want to go back to sitting close to coworkers. Screens and walls were erected.

I never believed it. Humans want and need social connection. Of course the opposite happened post-COVID and became one of coworking’s biggest opportunities.

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀 are a second, less dramatic threat that’s quietly reshaping the sector.

More landlords are converting empty traditional office buildings into flex or managed arrangements. Good for coworking’s footprint but it puts pressure on margins as competition increases. A rise in commercial rents means independent operators — especially smaller ones serving freelancers and small businesses — will struggle to keep their pricing accessible.

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸. The five biggest national brands — Regus, HQ, Industrious, Spaces, and WeWork now control a meaningful and growing slice of the market, even as thousands of independent operators do most of the day-to-day activity.

Will the industry end up looking like hotel chains (a few branded giants plus a long tail of independents)?

𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 is probably the biggest shift in recent years. In some markets, nearly half of flex-space occupiers are now global or national corporations, not freelancers. Companies are using coworking as satellite offices and roughly half of memberships today are employer-sponsored rather than paid out of pocket.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 “𝟭𝟱-𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆” 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁. A large share of new memberships are being bought for locations within a short commute of home, and suburban coworking occupancy has been outpacing downtown business districts. Increasing Coworking provides a third workplace to its members, not a start-up hub

𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗰 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴. The original stereotypical coworking member — twenty-something, hoodie-wearing techie, has given way to a much more varied dynamic. The average member age has crept up and enterprise employees sit alongside freelancers and founders in the same open-plan rooms.

𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿. The coworking management software market itself is growing fast, because running a profitable space now depends on the boring stuff — automated invoicing, access control, utilization reporting — done well.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴’𝘀 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲

Coworking’s arc mirrors the broader pattern in how the pandemic reordered work: the disruption that seemed like it would kill the industry ended up validating its core premise. Its continued growth is steady and stable.

Flexibility, once a nice-to-have for scrappy startups, is now something enterprises actively budget for. Successful businesses in the next phase of growth will likely be the ones that treat coworking less like a lifestyle brand and more like the professionally operated commercial property category it has become.

The freelancers who started it all haven’t gone anywhere, either. They now share the room with a much wider mix of people — which, in its own way, is the most coworking outcome of all 🙂

The coworking spaces that survive and thrive will of course offer community and hospitality but will also have great systems in place, a firm handle on their numbers, and technology that drives their day-to-day operations alongside their superstar teams.

Let us help your coworking software run your core systems, nail down your processes and create accurate reports on how you’re doing. www.nextlevelcoworking.com. Book a free 30 mins chat.