Why Co-working Is Becoming A ‘thing'

Co-working may feel like it came out of nowhere for a lot of us, but it was first observed as a trend by Google as far back as 2007.

The last decade has seen it grow both in search volume, and physical real estate to an estimated 10 000 spaces worldwide, housing over 700 000 individuals. In South Africa, the trend started to take root a few years ago, and by March 2016 there were reportedly 67 co-working spaces in South Africa; half of which were located in Cape Town.

Paul Keursten, co-founder of open, which runs Open Maboneng in Joburg and Workshop17 at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town says the demand for coworking and collaborative workspaces is being driven by three factors – the changing nature of work, rising costs and the need for inspiring environments.

Changing nature of work.

The way we work has evolved, almost beyond recognition, so workspaces need to change too. This is potentially the most significant reason behind the rise of co-working. Many of us look for an inspiring work environment where we can mix work and pleasure, make a meaningful contribution and continually grow and develop. A growing number of workers have thus become independent professionals or entrepreneurs working on projects with and for others.

Technology and globalisation have transformed what a workforce looks like, what work looks like and where it takes place. one third of the jobs available now did not even exist 25 years ago and the technology used to do this work sometimes didn’t exist even a few years ago. And yet, our office spaces and our expectations of what “coming to work” looks like haven’t really changed that much. Co-working spaces like OPEN are redefining what a workspace can be: a flexible and multi-functional landscape for working, connecting, learning and creating.

Office costs and office hassles.