Work / space balance
The way we work is changing. The office setup of the past is swiftly being replaced by a mobile workforce more familiar with flexibility than the strict office culture that defined the movie “Office Space” in the 90s. The stuffy nature of the formal office environment, with its cubicles, coffee maker moments and fluorescent lighting are a thing of the past.
These days, offices are more likely to have a open offices for informal meetings, a breakout room to chill in and hot desks so that people can work wherever suits them best each. That’s if they go into the office at all. Hot desking is a reflection of our technological capability to take work home or wherever else we want to go. It’s a big change culturally and one welcomed by a younger generation of worker that’s happy to answer messages on a smartphone late into the evening.
Not only are we much less tied to our offices, but we are much less tied to companies overall. In the US, the number of freelancers in the five years leading up to 2018 increased by nearly 4 million! That is a nearly 11% growth in full time freelancers and nearly 42% of millennials in the US are freelancing — according to research by Upwork.
But we still need places to work and meet — we’re not animals! Sometimes it’s nice to change out of your pajamas and sit in an office with other real humans, hence the growing popularity of flexible working spaces like Resource Suites. It’s not your Dad’s office anymore.
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In Waikiki, and in its premier location in the county of Honolulu, the company has 13 offices with only one vacancy currently, and that tenant was there since 2012! Having started to show this office just shy of three days ago, Resource Suite’s growth for office 324 is going vertical. This is owed in part to its adoption of a well defined business model and making it customer-centric and flexible. 90% of Resource Suites’ business is comprised of single offices dedicated to companies.
Not only do these places serve as important spots to connect with like-minded individuals, they help them to form communities and realize shared interests: half of members confirm that working at Resource Suites has helped them to enter Hawaii’s markets.
Shared workspaces are particularly suitable for startups who require flexibility over all else. As great as the ‘in-some-guy’s-garage’ startup folklore is, the fact is that entrepreneurship is prevailing, in part because of the availability of game-changing services like Resource Suites.
They provide comfortable surroundings, proper desks, meeting spaces and all the offerings of a real company, without the 5-year-lease and office furniture costs. In fact, they use space 2.5 times more efficiently, helping reduce the carbon footprint of ‘officing’!
If it is more convenient, offers great flexibility and is more efficient, it is little wonder the coworking market is growing so quickly. It reflects much more than a simple cultural change between generations but also a big opportunity for the future of work. That helps to build the startup ecosystem around the world and, if there is one thing I endorse, it is businesses and services that help entrepreneurs thrive.
To find out more about how you could cowork, please go to resourcesuites.com
