POLL: Will WeWork's decline negatively impact the entire co-working space?

Question

The decline of WeWork following the failed IPO attempt is making many of us makers and remote workers doubt the future of co-working. I'm personally still bullish about the future of co-working because I see the way we work changing a lot over the coming decades. Specifically I see employers embracing flexible working and doing what it takes to hire and recruit the best talent -- regardless of their location or personal circumstances.

What do you think?

Lanre Akinyemi · Accepted Answer

Spoke to one of the co-founders of one of the local co-working spaces and he mentioned that WeWork helped "legitimize" co-working similar to how Naruto & Bleach made anime mainstream - now business is booming! If anything, if users do move away from WeWork, these local independent co-working spaces might benefit.

Abadesi · Answer

@lanre_akinyemi definitely an opportunity for other brands to blossom and take up more market share in the WeWork decline!

Rishi Gaurav Bhatnagar · Answer

So WeWork situation has been an interesting one. I was talking about this with a friend the other day. If there is an experiment that is being executed by someone and the execution fails, do you start wondering if the experiment is wrong? No. It's the execution. There is a huge thriving community of remote workers, freelancers, small businesses that need space to work out across the world. I believe co-working is here to stay, as long as people are willing to work out of coffee shops and want to be a part of a community they feel they belong.
Since a lot of the other business valuations were based off of WeWork, it is definitely going to impact that, but the core business I assume will definitely stay. Hopefully, people would want to go more towards sustainable business models and growth though.

Aaron O'Leary · Answer

I think there will be a little bit of a trust / scepticism issue for a while, but as the attention on weworks shortcomings dissipate I think overall it could benefit the industry, especially for local independent spaces as Lanre mentioned

Taylor Majewski · Answer

I don't think so. From what I've read (and heard over the years) about WeWork's decline, it has a lot to do with internal mismanagement. To WeWork's credit, they really brought coworking into the mainstream, so I do think other companies will start to emerge as alternative leaders within the space. I'm a member of The Wing and can't imagine not having a coworking space to use as a remote worker. With the rise of the remote work, the need for more coworking space is just going to continue to increase.

Will Smith · Answer

The demand for co-working won't go away. As others have said, it will only grow. Co-working is appealing in so many ways.

But I worry prices will go up.

If WeWork shrinks or outright collapses, then the co-working supply goes down, even as demand rises. So prices will go up until and unless there is a replacement of the co-working inventory that WeWork shuttered.

But even if WeWork doesn't go away, one big question is whether WeWork offices are subsidized by all its investment capital, or whether the fees it charges tenants are actually sustainable for the company. (Same question exists for Uber. We consumers don't pay full cost of Uber rides.) If the office costs were in fact subsidized, well then, there's another reason prices will rise. Because no co-working company with WeWork's amount of capital will appear again for a generation or ever, so co-working spaces are going to have to make their numbers work.

Charlie Ward · Answer

From the funding perspective:

Short-term, it may damage investment in co-working spaces, but long-term it'll be a a net positive, driving better business practices throughout the industry, creating more successful co-working spaces/brands and eventually drive more investment again. Just not at silly valuations like WeWork was.

Muhammad Harfoush ✨ · Answer

It is not that co-working as a business model is not legitimate, it is that WeWork is an edge case of how eccentric startups (and their founders) are.

What its decline did affect negatively is growth-based startups, though.

Abadesi · Answer

@yungrollneck definitely !! Like the analysis of it being a net positive

Answer

@abadesi haha I feel that, I just leave a bunch of books sometimes and it works 😂

Answer

Libraries are the best co-working spaces. True community events going (not some event disguised as a sales pitch for some company) from arts to concerts,  they're free, and they're not a fad and will live out any recession :D

Charlie Ward · Answer

It was said elsewhere here, but due to WeWork, far more people know what co-working spaces even are. General awareness can only be a good thing long-term.

tela · Answer

It just puts the focus on creating sustainable co-working businesses, and great unique environments. WeWork was kinda cool, but there was also an uncanny valley aspect to the consistency across their locations. I'm hoping that remote workers will put more value on great, unique spaces and environments since WeWork's "Starbucks of Co-Working" approach isn't sucking the air out of the room.

Abadesi · Answer

@rishigb Nice! yes execution is everything... hence why so many companies try to solve the same problem but only a few succeed.

Answer

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POLL: Will WeWork's decline negatively impact the entire co-working space?

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