Rogue Magazine Business Revamp the Coworking Model with Community Coworking

Revamp the Coworking Model with Community Coworking



As more and more employees work from home, finding solutions to lonely and unproductive remote work becomes increasingly important.  Coworking should be one of these solutions, but often fails to truly promote community, leaving workers just as lonely as before.  

In fact, in a survey of members of WeWork, a company that provides coworking spaces, 69% of individuals said that they did not have any friends at WeWork outside of immediate coworkers.  This reveals traditional coworking’s failure to promote new connections and relationships.  

Traditional coworking falls flat in other ways, as well.  For instance, it is expensive and relies on potentially high risk real estate investment deals.  However, these deals often do not pay off, as only 46% of coworking spaces are profitable. 

Coworking spaces are also often boring, with low differentiation between spaces, little vertical integration, and an over-emphasis on work at the expense of social connection.  All of these factors inhibit traditional coworking spaces from achieving their purpose. 

However, coworking is not a lost cause.  There are other models that may be more effective.  The community coworking model is one example.  This model is less expensive, while also promoting more social interaction.  It creates niche communities, organizes social activities, and partners with community organizers for more connection and variety.  This may allow community coworking to succeed where traditional coworking did not. 

Despite the challenges that traditional coworking has faced, coworking should not be scrapped altogether.  Instead, innovative models like community coworking in NYC should be considered, allowing remote workers to connect and explore new spaces, relationships, and interests.

​Coworking Spaces in NYC
Source: Tavern Community

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