A new report has revealed that the flexible office industry will see major expansion over the next few months across Australia.
Currently, flexible office space makes up 6.4% of total office stock in Australia, but the report expects the amount of space to double in some cities
In Sydney, which has the largest flexible office takeup in Australia, four new locations are gearing up to open before October, adding 20,000 square meters from operators like WeWork and JustCo. Additionally, Melbourne is expecting to add 11,000 square meters with new three facilities from JustCo, Spaces and Executive Centre.
“We’ve still got a long way to go but as we come out the other side of COVID-19, I’m absolutely certain that the demand for, and supply of, flexible office space will grow hugely,” said Jim Groves, co-founder and CEO of Rubberdesk. “There are a lot of businesses that will emerge with excess space which they’ll want to rent out, as well as the companies running flex space expanding, and demand will continue to grow.”
With many companies adopting work-from-home policies at the moment, concerns of security risks have increased. Working in a controlled office environment helps prevent being hacked or having confidential conversations overheard.
Operators are optimistic about the future of flexible working in the country as well. According to Misha Baxter, general manager at Victory Offices, the current pandemic is allowing companies to rethink signing long-term leases and instead seeking to spread out their footprint across various workspaces.