Combining the best parts of an office environment and the work from home lifestyle, co-working has become more popular than ever. A growing number of business owners, entrepreneurs, and workers prefer the work-life balance co-working provides. Here are some statistics that show just how co-working is changing the way people do their jobs.
- Around the world, the number of co-working spaces is projected to double by 2022, growing from 26,000 spaces in 2017 to nearly 50,000.
- The number of people who use co-working spaces is forecast to grow to 5.1 million by 2022. In 2015, the number was 1.74 million, and in 2019 there were 3.1 million people using co-working spaces.
- Once the domain of freelancers, co-working now shows strong appeal for corporations. The number of enterprise companies that use co-working spaces has jumped by 360 percent.
- Freelancers still make up a big number of co-workers at 41 percent. However, corporations now account for 36 percent.
- Some of the major businesses that use co-working spaces include Sprint, Pinterest, HSBC, Microsoft, GE, Dell, and Spotify.
- The biggest demographic that uses co-working spaces are people age 25 to 29, followed by those in the 30 to 34 age range. However, researchers say co-working individuals should skew older in the coming years.
- Women are a growing demographic in co-working spaces and now make up 40 percent of users.
- The top profession for co-working spaces is information technology at 22 percent, followed by public relations at 14 percent and writing at 9 percent.
- People who use co-working spaces tend to be highly educated, with 41 percent holding a bachelor’s degree and another 41 percent having a master’s degree.
- Co-working spaces appeal to introverts and extroverts alike. Among all co-working groups, 30 percent self-identify as extroverts, while 22 percent say they’re introverts.
- People who use co-working spaces consistently say they’re happier at work. In a survey from 2018, 89 percent of co-working members say their happiness level has increased since using co-working, and 83 percent report feeling less lonely.
- Using a co-working space doesn’t mean you have to lose the camaraderie of the office. Among those surveyed, 86 percent of co-working members report feeling like they’re part of a community.
- Researchers say that 79 percent of people who use co-working spaces have actually grown their social contacts since joining.
- Survey show that 54 percent of people who use co-working spaces socialize with fellow co-work users after hours.
- People who use co-working spaces report that changing their work lifestyle has helped them grow their business. When surveyed, 82 percent of co-working members say co-working has led to new business opportunities.
- The majority of co-working members say co-working has helped them expand their knowledge base, with 68 percent reporting they have learned a new skill.
- Co-working doesn’t mean sacrificing privacy. On average, co-working spaces dedicate about 25 percent of their facilities to private working areas. This is up from just 6 percent in 2017.
- Co-working spaces have become increasingly popular in the United States, growing from 542,000 members in 2017 to a projected 1.08 million in 2022.
- The largest metro areas for co-working in the U.S. are Manhattan with 7.7 million square feet. Los Angeles comes in second with 3.7 million square feet of co-working spaces.
- Traditional businesses continue to embrace co-working, with 43 percent saying good co-working spaces promote teamwork and collaboration.
- Researchers estimate that 13 percent of businesses outside the United States will use a shared working space by the year 2022.
- As of 2019, the average co-working space had 185 members.
- Co-working members tend to stick with the same space, with 55 percent saying they still use the original space they started in.
- Around the world, workers are abandoning the traditional 9 to 5 work schedule. In Japan, for example, 80 percent of workers say they work non-traditional hours.
- Co-working is most popular among millennials, with 65 percent saying they use a co-working space. By contrast, just 5 percent of the baby boomer generation reports using a co-working space.
- The number of co-working spaces with 200 or more desks jumped from 2 percent in 2004 to 13 percent in 2008.
- There is an estimated 521 million square feet of co-working space around the world.
- In London, which has seen a co-working boom, a brand new co-working space opens up every five days on average.
- In Asia, 23 percent of workspaces are now co-working spaces.
- Shopping malls and retail spaces offer co-working spaces an opportunity to expand. This market is expected to grow by 25 percent each year through 2023.
Sources:
- https://gcuc.co/growth/
- https://www.cpexecutive.com/post/shared-space-coworkings-rising-star/
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/797564/number-of-people-working-in-coworking-spaces-us/
- https://liquidspace.com/flexible-office-reports/q4_2017
- http://www.deskmag.com/en/background-of-the-2018-global-coworking-survey-market-research
- http://www.deskmag.com/en/coworking-spaces-for-introverts-extroverts-ambiverts-member-report-study-1014
- https://www.smallbizlabs.com/2018/01/the-social-side-of-coworking.html
- https://www.deskmag.com/en/1-7-million-members-will-work-in-coworking-spaces-by-the-end-of-2018-survey
- http://www.deskmag.com/en/members-of-coworking-spaces-demographics-statistics-global-survey-coworkers-research-2017
- http://www.deskmag.com/en/the-state-of-coworking-spaces-in-2018-market-research-development-survey/2
- https://gcuc.co/2018-global-coworking-forecast-30432-spaces-5-1-million-members-2022/