In 1995, the first unofficial coworking spaces, dubbed ‘hackerspaces’ began appearing in Germany. By today’s standards, these would have been considered niche coworking spaces, specialized for computer enthusiasts and engineers. In 2005, Brad Neuberg opened the first official coworking space in San Francisco.
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Coworking has blossomed since then, with spaces available in both big cities and small towns around the world. It has succeeded for many reasons, including the rise of the gig economy as well as an increase in remote workers and entrepreneurs.
Trends
2025 is expected to be a year of opportunity for coworking spaces, especially for companies that remain flexible to their members’ needs. Let’s take a look at some of the expected trends for this year.
Flexible Use Space
One way that coworking spaces are increasing revenue and visibility is to utilize their space as an event space for hosting conferences, meetups, and other professional events.
More coworking spaces are including private office spaces along with their flex-use desks and spaces, and private and semi-private phone booths are becoming more common. In addition, the use of drop-in options and day passes have increased.
New Markets
As remote working arrangements continue to expand, more coworking spaces are being formed in small towns and rural areas, bringing the coworking community right down the road from a lot more people.
Larger companies, like Allstate, are also starting to utilize coworking spaces for their employees, in addition to individual remote workers, entrepreneurs, and creatives.
Niche spaces, coworking developed for specific types of work, such as spaces for creatives, therapy-related coworking spaces, and recording studios, are emerging.
The Experience
One thing that hasn’t changed is the focus of the coworking community. It continues to be about the experience rather than about the space itself. Coworking communities, especially friendship-based coworking like Cohere Coworking, continue to focus on the community aspect, bringing people together to connect and collaborate.
Communities are enhancing their hospitality options, however, facilitating more cooperation and collaboration through events, providing health and wellness options, and providing a greater variety of work equipment.
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Takeaways
Coworking appears to be expanding in almost every market, including big cities and small, rural towns. This is allowing niche coworking communities to gain a foothold and encouraging larger employers to take advantage of the community and collaboration that coworking spaces excel at providing. Spaces continue to focus on the strengths of the coworking community by providing health and wellness amenities, facilitating member interactions, and encouraging personal and professional growth.
***Find out more about the benefits of Coworking by connecting and collaborating with other productivity-minded remote workers and entrepreneurs at Cohere Coworking, or take a peek at our articles on Resources and Resourcefulness and How to Foster Friendships.
Penny Leigh Sebring is a Cohere member, experienced freelance writer, neophyte speculative fiction author, founder of Kiki’s Castle Independent Press, LLC, in Fort Collins, CO, and a gatherer of information and imaginary friends.