Avila Spaces Reveals Work Trends For 2018

New generations emerge leading the change to more flexible workspaces and to a more relaxed environment.

Lisbon. January, 2018h – Avila Spaces, a market leader in virtual offices and shared workspaces in Portugal, has issued a study showing the new trends for the flexible workspace sector in 2018.

The study’s conclusions are drawn on the observations that Avila Spaces made regarding the workspace market in Portugal, the consumer behaviour, as well as the Barometer results concerning new work models. This initiative was carried out by the I&D Department of Avila Spaces in 2017.

For Teresa Jacinto, Director of this Department, the conclusions are quite clear: «In 2018, companies will continue to focus on flexible work models, not only as a matter of rationalization of costs, but also because the new generations prefer to work in a more relaxed and collaborative environment and with a great sense of freedom.

The enquiry also indicated that there is a growing demand for labour flexibility with the younger generation, leading to this paradigm shift. ‘We have realized that there is a group of people that is driven by goals and rejects the traditional 9am to 6pm work schedule. This generations likes the opportunity to pick where to work from, whether from the company’s office, from home, from a terrace, or from a coworking space.

To back up these statements, Avila concluded that 59.1% of those questioned in the barometer, had already used the following flexible work models: virtual office, coworking or teleworking. Out of these three trends, ‘teleworking’ was the most significant with 45%, ‘coworking’ was next with 28.4%, and ‘virtual office’  with a total 26.6%.

In relation to the upcoming year, 82.1% of those surveyed gave clear answers in the Avila’s Trends Barometer, claiming that in 2018 they want to use at least one of these work models.

These three flexible work models are also about ensuring that clients have a ‘greater balance between professional and personal life’. This was how 51.5% of the professionals surveyed answered when asked about the option which had led them to choose one of these ways of working. In second place, with 45.5%, was the ‘reduction of building charges’, and third with 44.8% was ‘more mobility’. This question in Avila’s barometer was a multiple-answer type and all the participants were able to answer in order of preference.

«The feedback provided by our barometer shows that companies increasingly invest in the welfare of professionals. Both Millennial workforce and Generation Z, besides valuing the balance between personal and professional life, also prefer to work in companies that promote different activities in the workplace, like sports practice, yoga classes, and a combination of relaxation and meditation», explains Teresa Jacinto.

The above goes in line with the strong investment that Avila Spaces has made in its Office Centre: provide more collaborative workspaces for its clients where elements of leisure and relaxation can be found and without ever compromising privacy. For Teresa Jacinto, «There is a growing concern for privacy. The best practices point to the cohabitation of various models: open-space, reserved rooms, phone-booths and recreational areas for short breaks during work».

The new Avila Spaces was created in 2017 and perfectly reflects these new tendencies forecasted, by the Workspaces Trends Barometer, for 2018. Besides having an area with individual workspaces, both the coworking and the business lounge are the ultimate expression of its current signature: ‘Work. Relax. Enjoy ‘. This is the cornerstone that unites the brand and a concept whereby all the clients can benefit from this new space: work, relax, enjoy it and make the most of the services provided (including a lounge area where it is possible to take a break, and a coffee corner where they can get a cup of coffee or a cup of tea for free).

Carlos Gonçalves, CEO of Avila Spaces, points out that «this is how professionals face the workspace nowadays: a place where they can work as comfortable and relaxed as possible, where they can relax in lounge areas and even have fun in networking events or parties», and he adds that: «this approach also reflects the emphasis that professionals currently attach to the balance between personal and professional life».

About Avila Spaces

Avila Spaces is the most awarded Business Centre in Portugal and is the leader of innovation in the flexible work spaces market in the country. The new Coworking and Business Lounge offers a premium environment, with state-of-the-art technology, where companies are able to grow in a sustained and dynamic way. Avila Spaces pioneered the virtual offices market by launching myOffice app in 2010, an innovative platform in the international business community.

Avila Spaces was founded in 2004 and currently it has more than 400 national and international clients. It is also a member and representative, in Portugal, of the largest Business Centres network in the world, the “eOffice International Network”. This network has more than 300 locations and it is managed from the United Kingdom. Avila Spaces has its facilities in Lisbon, on Avenida da República and on Avenida João Crisóstomo.