Shared office company Regus Philippines has revealed that local economies outside Manila are seeing a boost in employment and economic value from having coworking spaces or business centers.
“If one business center (or coworking centre) would be built in a suburban city/town, its annual value of economic output at a national level would be expected to amount to P186.46 million,” the company said in an email. “The proportion of this total expected to benefit the local economy hosting the centre is P78.70 million per annum.”
The study found that by 2029, there could be over 74,000 people working at coworking spaces across the country.
Currently, IWG has 28 facilities under the Regus and Spaces brands across the Philippines, most of which are located in Metro Manila.
Coworking growth is largely due to big companies adopting flexible work policies and pivoting away from central headquarters. This allows them to expand their employee base, as well improve the well-being of their workers.
“We already have hundreds of centers in these types of locations, some of which have populations as little as ten thousand people and we plan to open many more as this trend continues,” said Lars Wittig, IWG Philippines country manager. “Our vision is that, in the near future, there will be a professional workspace available on every corner.”