Workfrom is an online platform that was launched 3 years ago with the goal of helping digital nomads, remote workers, and freelancers find the best places to work from, wherever they went.
“The initial vision was to share knowledge about workspaces; we wanted to help people find out what’s the best place to get work done. It all started because I needed it for myself. In the past, I had a lot of trouble finding good places to work from when I was in an unfamiliar area.” – Darren Buckner, Founder and CEO at Workfrom
Buckner’s struggle isn’t uncommon, and this showed in the reach that the platform had and the amount of people that joined and contributed to the cause. “We have about 100,000 people on our platform every month, we are present in over 1,200 cities by now, and our community is powered by over 50,000 people.”
“The last 3 years we’ve been crowdsourcing information on the best places to work in any certain city, based on different criteria,” Buckner added. And this has allowed Workfrom to compile valuable data on how people make decisions regarding work and the workplace.
“We have behavioral data around how people are working, where they are working from, and why they are choosing certain types of spaces. It’s been a pretty successful effort rallying the people and getting this information; now we want to make sense of all this information and share it with the world.”
Buckner explained that although the data is readily available for them to analyse, the team at Workfrom is still in the process of organizing and finding the right way to present it. However, Buckner assures us that Workform is planning on sharing insights and data in less than 3 months.
Don’t stop reading just yet. Though the report isn’t ready, Buckner was able to share some insights and hint more about what we can expect from the report.
Workspace as a resource, not a destination
“People are trying to get access to these spaces (coworking, private offices, libraries, coffee shops) so they can have a more reliable experience for uninterrupted work, meetings, and calls. The space itself is more of a resource than it is a destination.”
Work can get done from anywhere–and Workform provides insider tips and reviews on all types of workspaces; from coworking and private offices, to libraries and coffee shops, even to bars. And this has allowed them to pick up on some trends and workplace must-haves that people find the most valuable.
“As we were looking at the data, we realized that most professionals are looking for quiet spaces where they can work from. Don’t get me wrong, where there’s strong and reliable WiFi, that’s where people will gravitate towards the most. But followed by that is a certain level of quietness…and also easy access to power outlets.”
Another very interesting finding is that Buckner believes that coffee shops are the most popular place to work in cities and neighborhoods where there aren’t as many coworking options.
Though Buckner hasn’t finished going through all the data to give any specifics, he did mention that “there are definitely some gaps between cities and other areas”.
Buckner might be up to something, especially if we follow Jayson’s White theory that the suburbs could very well be the future of coworking.
We’re expecting Workform’s report to be a goldmine of useful information for the industry. As coworking and shared workspace operators continue to grow and evolve, it’s important to look at what workers want from their workplace; it’s crucial to understand what they value and what drives their decisions and behavior.
While the report comes out, read more about the future of work and other trends here.
If you’d like to get a copy of the report once it’s available, click here.
