How IWG is Leading Change in the Workplace

International Workplace Group (IWG), the world's largest provider of flexible workspace solutions with more than 3,300 locations in 1,100 cities worldwide, is at the forefront of a seismic shift in how people want to work. As organizations increasingly adopt a hybrid approach to working, IWG, with a portfolio that includes professional workplace brand Regus, creative workplace brand Spaces, hassle-free workplace brand HQ or luxurious workspace brand Signature, offers landlords, institutional investors and business partners the opportunity to take advantage of this demand and position themselves for success in the future. 

“To take people back prior to the pandemic — what we were seeing with work and the workplace was already fundamentally shifting,” said Wayne Berger, CEO of International Workplace Group (IWG) of The Americas. “We were living in an era where more people were moving towards flexibility. Back in 2019, over 50% of the world’s workforce was working from somewhere other than a traditional office at least one to two days a week. Back then, people thought the trend was industry specific — tech sector, media sector, design sector. Now, three years later, it is completely industry agnostic. Workers and organizations across all industries are moving towards flexibility at a greater pace than we’ve ever seen.”

Most “knowledge-based workers” worked full-time from home during the pandemic. While some organizations have decided to return to the office or maintain fully remote practices, a third option is becoming increasingly popular — a hub-and-spoke model where employees go to a flexible workspace daily in their local communities. With this evolution in work culture, the global flexible workspace industry is projected to nearly double in size, from $7.97 billion to $13.03 billion, by 2025. 

“Through the pandemic, we received over a million leads from organizations annually in need of flexible spaces,” said Berger. “Today, that number has accelerated over 30% — 1.3 million annual leads. That is because work is becoming ubiquitous. The idea of going to one central location, corporate HQ, five days a week, 9 to 5, is a thing of the past. 88% of organizations have flexible policies. And that is because 9 out of 10 workers are demanding that they are able to work in a flexible way for at least a portion of the week.”

Today, Berger says flexible workspace represents 3% of all commercial real estate, but because of these emerging work trends, most analysts predict that number will grow to a whopping 30% by 2030. By partnering with IWG, commercial landlords and institutional investors in markets both large and small have an opportunity to cater to the demand for flexible workspaces and get in on the ground floor.

As opposed to a traditional capital lease, landlords, building owners and institutional developers can sign a partnership agreement with IWG and invest the capital in converting the space into a flexible workspace office. From there, IWG will presell the location, staff the team, deploy the resources and place it on the world's largest network of flexible workspace sites. This provides landlords and business investors with operating income from day one, a higher return on net assets and increased flexibility.

“At the end of the day, when an institutional or individual investment partner is coming in, they want to invest their capital and partner with the best-in-class global provider of flexible workplaces,” said Berger. “So we work hard to provide support from day one to opening, undertaking all responsibilities of finding and building out the location. That is what they are paying for with the investment — we will come to you with a center gift wrapped and ready to go.”

Looking ahead, Berger says IWG hopes to double its North American footprint, adding 1,000 new locations a year. And following many years of continuous growth, Berger says global demand for temporary offices, meeting rooms and flexible workspaces is set to explode, and there is no better partner than IWG to take advantage of that demand.

“I emphatically believe that the flexible workspace industry is going to achieve, if not exceed, its projected growth by 2030,” said Berger. “In 2021, for the first time in 30 years, employee well-being and flexible working became the number one demand driver for workers, exceeding salary and bonuses. What that says is there is a systemic shift in how people are choosing to work. As a result, companies are shifting so dynamically, so quickly, that 10-year traditional leases no longer make sense. We’ve been able to be a big part of that evolution, and we are excited to continue expanding in markets, from big cities to small towns, across North America.” 

Learn more at https://www.iwgplc.com/en-gb/develop-a-location.