During last week’s Work Spaces Day Conference in Barcelona, there was one topic that most attendees and presenters agreed on: the coworking industry is not only here to stay, but it will continue to grow. Ramiro Rodríguez, Associate Director of Research & Insight at Cushman & Wakefield Spain presented findings from the report “Spain’s Flexible Workspace Industry 2019”. His presentation started with the statement that “the potential of the flexible workspace industry is unquestionable.” Philippe Jiménez, Country Manager Spain for IWG; Óscar García Toledo, Founder & CEO of FIRST WORKPLACES; Sergi Tarragona, Founder of Cloudworks; and Jesse Derkx, Head of Sales at ONE COWORK agreed with the above claim during a panel. Tarragona stated that the industry will continue to grow because there has been a “paradigm shift in the way people work.” Flexible workspace is a fundamental part of this shift. Jiménez for his part, believes that one of the main growth drivers of the industry is the growth of the knowledge-based economy. “Companies with a knowledge-based workforce need space that can be tailored to specific needs and demands.” García Toledo believes that the flexible workspace industry’s success is due to social change. “Society is changing”, it’s not just about the way people work, but also how they live. “Technology is evolving faster than ever, and this means that we all need to be on our toes; flexible space enables companies to be resilient and able to adapt to any upcoming social and technological changes.” In Spain, Cushman & Wakefield found that hybrid workspace operators — operators that are both property owners and workspace operators — are the ones getting the most activity. According to the report, “these types of operators are expected to grow in Spain and across Europe.” One issue that stood out in the panel moderated by Javier Bernades was the statement that, for the most part, corporates (in Spain) “are starting to use flexible space more out of necessity than conviction that it’s the way of the future.” This is particularly concerning, especially as, in García Toledo’s words, “corporates are making the flexible workspace business more lucrative and viable”. The good news is that, so far, “once large companies try flexible workspace, they stay.” More importantly, Derkx made the observation that flexibility is the way of the future. “Companies today and in the future will need to be flexible, and that’s our main value proposition.” Even if large enterprises are not yet convinced of the value of flexible workspace solutions, the reality is that in their efforts to attract and retain talent, flexible workspace is a valuable tool and resource. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Messenger
Panellists at a Work Spaces conference in Barcelona unanimously agreed that the co-working sector will continue to grow across Europe. The flexible office sector is expected to grow beyond capital cities into tier II cities, according to Cushman & Wakefield. “Co-living has become more popular and we expect it to be even bigger than it was 10 years ago,” said David Jones, CEO of Colliers International. Philippe Jimenez, country manager for IWG Spain, was one of the panel members.