A Coworking Resources report revealed that the coworking sector is seeing steady growth in 2019, despite its slowdown from last year.
At the same time, there was a large number of spaces entering the market from newcomers which indicates that large operators could be loosening their grip on the industry.
New coworking firms took up 65.3% of openings, while chains and expansion made up 34.7%.
Now, coworking spaces are expected to expand to over 25,000 spaces worldwide compared to the current 18,287 that operate today.
Going forward, operators are finding new ways to attract and retain the growing demographic of younger workers by offering a sense of community, sustainability, and flexibility. WeWork, for example, recently went meat-free in order to lower its carbon footprint and become more sustainable.
“It’s less around loyalty to one company for their entire life,” said Marcus Hanlon, ISPT executive general manager. “It’s about the gig economy, freelancing, coworking, working with other people on different projects constantly.”