30 Surprising Stats About Co-working

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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Freelancers still make up a big number of co-workers at 41 percent. However, corporations now account for 36 percent.
5. Some of the major businesses that use co-working spaces include Sprint, Pinterest, HSBC, Microsoft, GE, Dell, and Spotify.
6. 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.
7. Women are a growing demographic in co-working spaces and now make up 40 percent of users.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. Researchers say that 79 percent of people who use co-working spaces have actually grown their social contacts since joining.
14. Survey show that 54 percent of people who use co-working spaces socialize with fellow co-work users after hours.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. Traditional businesses continue to embrace co-working, with 43 percent saying good co-working spaces promote teamwork and collaboration.
21. Researchers estimate that 13 percent of businesses outside the United States will use a shared working space by the year 2022.
22. As of 2019, the average co-working space had 185 members.
23. Co-working members tend to stick with the same space, with 55 percent saying they still use the original space they started in.
24. 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.
25. 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.
26. The number of co-working spaces with 200 or more desks jumped from 2 percent in 2004 to 13 percent in 2008.
27. There is an estimated 521 million square feet of co-working space around the world.
28. In London, which has seen a co-working boom, a brand new co-working space opens up every five days on average.
29. In Asia, 23 percent of workspaces are now co-working spaces.
30. 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:

1. https://gcuc.co/growth/
2. https://www.cpexecutive.com/post/shared-space-coworkings-rising-star/
3. https://www.statista.com/statistics/797564/number-of-people-working-in-coworking-spaces-us/
4. https://liquidspace.com/flexible-office-reports/q4_2017
5. http://www.deskmag.com/en/background-of-the-2018-global-coworking-survey-market-research
6. http://www.deskmag.com/en/coworking-spaces-for-introverts-extroverts-ambiverts-member-report-study-1014
7. https://www.smallbizlabs.com/2018/01/the-social-side-of-coworking.html
8. https://www.deskmag.com/en/1-7-million-members-will-work-in-coworking-spaces-by-the-end-of-2018-survey
9. http://www.deskmag.com/en/members-of-coworking-spaces-demographics-statistics-global-survey-coworkers-research-2017
10. http://www.deskmag.com/en/the-state-of-coworking-spaces-in-2018-market-research-development-survey/2
11. https://gcuc.co/2018-global-coworking-forecast-30432-spaces-5-1-million-members-2022/