{"id":18024,"date":"2020-06-25T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-25T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comparehero.my\/blog\/uncategorized\/covid-19-impact-coworking-spaces.html"},"modified":"2026-03-27T08:37:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T00:37:46","slug":"covid-19-impact-coworking-spaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comparehero.my\/blog\/sme\/covid-19-impact-coworking-spaces.html","title":{"rendered":"Coworking Spaces In A COVID-19 World: Is It Right For You And Your Business?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Many industries were impacted by COVID-19 and this includes the coworking space industry. Now that the government has reopened the economy in Malaysia, how are our local coworking spaces doing and how were they affected? And are coworking spaces actually good for you and your business during this pandemic? Read this article to find out.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The COVID-19 pandemic has left devastating effects on virtually every segment of the economy, and coworking spaces are no exception to this economic bloodbath, which as we\u2019ve seen so far has resulted in rising unemployment<\/a> and job loss within the country.<\/p>\n

Before the pandemic, coworking spaces were already a booming industry. It had transcended into the mainstream due to urban regeneration<\/a> where individuals relocated to cities for work and due to the surge in startup businesses around the world. Coworking spaces have been mushrooming particularly fast in large metropolitans as alternative spaces to typical real estate which have high rental costs.<\/p>\n

It is expected to further disrupt traditional industries that involve rental of time, equipment and space, as well as the real estate market, with the Global Coworking Unconference Conference estimating<\/a> that the number of coworkers will grow from 1.74 million in 2017 to 5.1 million by 2022.<\/p>\n

Today there are over 4000 coworking and shared office spaces in 100 different countries, with some turning into reputable brands and franchises such as Regus, WeWork, Spaces, and Knotel, all which can be found in major cities around the world. Check out this map<\/a> by Coworker to see all the different coworking spaces in the world.<\/p>\n

But now with more workers moving away from the traditional office setting to remote working due to uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, would coworking spaces continue to be relevant in today\u2019s new normal?<\/p>\n

We analyzed the situation and spoke to an expert for more insights.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never heard of coworking spaces\u2026 what are they?<\/h2>\n

Well the term \u201ccoworking\u201d in the working context was first used by Brad Neuberg, according to Coworker,<\/a> an intrepid entrepreneur who established the first coworking space in 2005 in San Francisco. Called San Francisco Coworking Space, it was open for only two days a week (Mondays and Tuesdays) inside Spiral Muse, a feminist collective space in the state.<\/p>\n

\"coworking-spaces-impact-covid-pandemic-brad-neuberg-768x512\"Before inventing the concept of coworking, Neuberg worked at a startup called Rojo, but was unhappy with his job. (Image source: Coworking Resources<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

Neuberg\u2019s idea was borne out of the desire to marry the concepts of independent working and building a community<\/strong>. He wanted to empower independence<\/strong> and the freedom of working solo<\/strong>, while maintaining the feel and structure of working in a community.<\/p>\n

The idea didn\u2019t fly with the local community at first. His space was empty for the first month as nobody had ever heard of a \u201ccoworking space\u201d before. But today, evidently, the industry is booming with hundreds of coworking spaces already established across the globe – and growing.<\/p>\n

Closer to home, the coworking concept has slowly picked up in Malaysia in recent years. As of now, coworking spaces are typically synonymous with freelancers, start-ups and remote workers, but The Edge Malaysia Weekly reported<\/a> that larger companies and multinational corporations (MNCs) are also moving into such spaces, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, which they say is expected to see the fastest growth in the number of coworking spaces and its users<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Christina Choong, Head of Business Development at homegrown coworking space WORQ<\/a>, told us her organization is seeing that trend playout as well. \u201cWe have built our fourth site for a global MNC which was completed in 6 months and operational by December of 2019 (the fastest we\u2019ve seen completed from end to end).\u201d WORQ currently serves notable companies such as UOB and GroupM.<\/p>\n

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