Just last week, MatchOffice shared some of the key highlights of its 2016 Client Survey.
The survey, which gathered responses from 1,080 tenants in 24 countries, found that larger clients and companies are increasingly looking at flexible workspace solutions as desirable and viable.
This didn’t come as much of a surprise to us, following the increase in popularity of corporate coworking and knowing that companies like Spotify, Pandora, and HSBC moved their operations to flexible workspace options in 2016.
However, the survey did provide some valuable data on how members are using the space and the amenities they take advantage of the most, and which ones workspace operators are still lacking.
The survey reports that most workspace users prefer contracts of less than a year and that the most popular choice remains the private office. However, it is important to highlight that 56% of respondents said that they use open space workspaces more than they did in 2015, and that 74% of respondents stated that they are making more use of lounge areas.
Meeting rooms, for their part, continue to be a star for many workspace users. “As might be expected, meeting rooms are still the second-most used facility that serviced office providers offer.” (Learn how to get the most out of your meeting rooms here.)
Moving on to amenities and services, “the number of first-time users of serviced offices is rising, meaning that the conversion from traditional spaces is still taking place. The general services and access to other facilities were the main pull to serviced offices for tenants, alongside the flexibility of having different-sized offices and workforces with limited outlay.”
The services and amenities workspace users are looking for (and enjoying the most)
78.2% of the survey respondents said that the location of the workspace was a major consideration in the decision-making process.
According to the report, “the most important service to tenants was to have clean and neat surroundings.” Additionally, MatchOffice reports a rise in the value of offering cafes/canteens, and IT services to workspace members. On the other end of the spectrum, however, the value of telephone answering and live receptionist services has fallen by 7.1%.
And although the survey reports a high-level of satisfaction from flexible workspace users, “over a quarter of professionals suggested that they would like a fitness room in the premises, and around the same proportion wanting a cafe.”
The real kicker (or should we say surprise) however, was that networking with other members was ranked as a relatively uninfluential factor for those hunting for a new workspace.
