The Future of Work is Flexible

When the pandemic swept through the world at the start of last year it changed the way we view work. Companies were forced to operate outside of the office with employees setting up home offices. In fact nearly half the Australian workforce has experienced working from home at some point over the past year.

With hours saved in commutes to the office and more time spent with family, it is not difficult to comprehend why some saw the changes as positive in the way they work. But for others, the idyllic notion of WFH soon faded. They quickly found their home office did not suit their work habits and requirements.

Over a year since the first restrictions came into effect, a survey has been published by PWC with over 32.500 business professionals surveyed on their current preference regarding their work setting. The survey identified that two-thirds of the people surveyed prefer a mix between in-person and remote work in the future.

The key insights identified as:

"Workers want more digital skills, more inclusivity, and more flexibility"

Research from The Marteec Group shows that WFH has led to reduced productivity, longer working hours, more unnecessary meetings and blurred lines between personal life and work life. It also found a decline in mental health with work and company dissatisfaction to be a side effect. Only 16% of respondents stated that they enjoyed working from home. The social aspects of work have also been a significant impact to peoples working lives. With no face to face networking opportunities or social interactions and collaboration between coworkers a consequence of WFH. At Tank Stream Labs, the busiest place usually in the morning and mid afternoon are around the coffee machines where many of our members are networking and interacting with each other.

If you consider the many ways office space has evolved over the decades, from confined office cubicles to private modern offices you will find that they all reflect a sense of flexibility. The modern workplace has evolved into a creative space that stretches the traditional rules of the office into something that has the potential to look in many different ways and that satisfies the majority of requirements for both employers and employees.

Flexibility has different meanings to people depending on their individual needs. The agile solution to this problem is coworking. In a co-working space, businesses can decide what they require in terms of the number of desks or the amount of flexible space they want to occupy. Meaning they can control costs and have the freedom to structure their company in the desired way without the administrational hassle of running an office space.

With WFH becoming the new working norm, there is a trend in businesses searching for alternatives to long term office leases, opting instead for the flexibility that a coworking space provides. Looking for flexible alternatives that could meet their new requirements, as well as providing all the services and amenities required with the networking opportunities that only a shared office space can provide.

Over the years, people go to the office for different reasons than just to work, and this dynamic has accelerated due to the pandemic. As one of Australia’s leading tech coworking communities for the past 10 years, we have experienced the shift and growth in the industry. Our members have chosen to base their companies with us as we have been able to provide them with an office space where people enjoy coming to work, with the opportunities to network and collaborate with people outside of their organisations.

Our CEO Bradley Delamare comments on the shift in the industry towards flexible office solutions, “ Coworking spaces provide flexible opportunities for businesses at a more affordable cost. People come to the office not just to work, but to network with colleagues and also people from other businesses. We have seen many collaboration opportunities between different companies as a result of companies working from our coworking space “ .

Our flexible membership solutions provide our members with exceptional facilities, unique networking opportunities with hundreds of entrepreneurs and scale-up businesses from the East coast to the West of Australia, along with access to endless education and networking events. By being part of our community all companies get access to exclusive member offers and discounts for products and services.

Learn more about our membership options here.

If you have any questions on this content or want to speak with a member of the Tank Stream Labs team, feel free to reach out at support@tankstreamlabs.com.