COMPANY BLOG: According to Jenny Folley, founder and CEO of Atworkspaces , the pandemic has changed the way people work and as a result, workers want to be near home and be able to work out of offices that offer all the perks of a city office without the travel, cost and congestion. This has triggered a boom in demand for suburban based offices and more flexible out of home working environments such as private offices and coworking spaces.
Atworkspaces is Australia’s leading premium brand of coworking and private offices and it is continuing to open new offices across the country in suburban areas. These include office hubs which offer micro offices for businesses seeking smaller agile office working spaces for staff supported by business services and other facilities including instant IT, meeting rooms, reception areas, kitchens, and more.
“Thanks to COVID, we are accelerating our expansion plans and fast-tracking the build of new Atworkspaces sites across the country,” Folley said.
“Aussies are happy to go back to work provided work is near home. As a result, businesses are moving their offices from traditional large fixed long lease CBD based locations to agile micro offices across suburban areas so that staff can still work at the office but near home.
“Micro office set ups enable businesses to operate smaller offices in a number of suburban office hub locations near to workers’ homes. Staff can still engage and communicate via screen, email and phone and utilise large meeting rooms on site for whole of team or organisation get-togethers when needed.
“The new trend of micro offices is rapidly growing in popularity and means businesses can have multiple smaller locations across many sites, usually close to workers’ homes. The micro offices are located in coworking and private office hubs such as Atworkspaces which provide flexibility and walk in, walk out convenience.
“Businesses simply let us know how many staff they have and what type of support they need and we set up and activate the new arrangements for them so that their staff simply need to walk in, sit down and start working.
“We now have many suburban based sites across the country and are continuing to open more.
“In addition, we are also opening eco friendly coworking and private office hub sites that involve the ability to recycle 100 percent of waste and consumables on site.”
During the worst months of the pandemic, working from home was the only option many people had. While it certainly had its benefits such as eliminating the daily commute and increasing the all-important work life balance, other issues emerged.
“For many people, working from home is not always the most convenient or comfortable thing to work at home all day, alongside your family with kids home from school,” Folley said.
“Many people actually prefer to have a professional space from which to conduct their professional lives, but don’t exactly want that huge commute to work either.
“On the other hand, with large office spaces closed for weeks and months, companies started to reevaluate the need for huge central hubs in the city. They found that they weren’t necessary to the operation of business. Companies realised that they could downsize to smaller offices, in decentralised locations for much lower cost.
“If you live in the suburbs, as most of us do, heading into work every day not only takes up time, it’s just tiring. Many people can think of better ways to spend their time than sitting in traffic.
“In addition, now that many businesses are asking staff to return to work, many workers are declining and so the only way businesses can lure their staff back to work and encourage them to stay is to provide an office location that is near to home. Micro offices are actually becoming an important talent acquisition and retention strategy to encourage people to work at the office while also stay close to home.
“This is why Atworkspaces has targeted suburban areas. We bring the office to you, so that you don’t have to go into the gridlock anymore. With advances in technology, you can work from anywhere. Our private offices and coworking spaces are modern and aesthetic, yet professional and ergonomic. We are expanding rapidly and opening new sites across Australia.
“People want flexibility in their lives and companies now realise that it’s no longer necessary to rent large, expensive floor spaces for their offices. They don’t want to be locked into long-term contracts when people don’t want to work in the office five days a week anymore.
“Businesses and corporations don’t want to invest significant sums of money into fixed and expensive floor plans and they certainly don’t want to have to spend money on fit outs, office machinery and meeting rooms that sit vacant for periods of time. Things are changing rapidly. There is more flexibility in the way they approach how business is conducted. They are realising that shared and private office workspaces are a great option. It offers the agility of more flexible leases and the cost savings of renting smaller spaces.”
Workspaces is a premium service provider of co-working and private office workspaces that are strategically located near fitness centres, parks and dining and shopping precincts, so business clients are able to maintain a healthy work/life balance, and not fall into the sedentary lifestyle associated with traditional offices.
