The uncertainty around South Africa’s current economic and political climates has offered the perfect platform for the thriving local flexible workspace market to step in to offer workspace-as-a-service options.
A lack of surplus funds, high interest rates and currency volatility, has encouraged businesses to opt for flexibility. And the serviced office model offers the most attractive and appropriate solution to an unstable economy.
According to a recent study, a third of all workers in South Africa now work from outside their company’s main offices for half the week or more. It also showed that 62 percent of people work remotely for at least some of the time. This is higher than in the UK, where 54 percent of employees now work flexibly in some shape or form.
The continued growth of the industry in South Africa comes as no surprise. The benefits to businesses, entrepreneurs and start-ups are many. Greater flexibility to fit around their lifestyle, increased productivity, the ability to vary routine, a shorter or more varied commute, and the chance to interact with different people each day are just a few reasons why more people are opting for a flexible co-working office.
The growing demand for serviced office space across South Africa (and globally), looks set to accelerate in 2018 and will continue to grow throughout the country as businesses want a new kind of workspace – one that allows them to follow flexible growth patterns and to adapt to changing economic fortunes and traditional long locked-in leases that are simply not practical for these businesses.
The serviced office model offers the most attractive and appropriate solution to an unstable economy.
The new SPACES brand – currently operating globally in 72 locations, 55 cities and 20 countries – has recently opened 8 centres in prime locations around South Africa, with new centres planned for 2018 to accommodate the growing need for this holistic workspace trend. A fully equipped, creative professional workspace that offers corporates, entrepreneurs, SMMEs and expanding national and multinational firms needing instant office space excellent returns on their investment without the costly regular office overheads.
Thanks to today’s collaboration technologies, workplace flexibility has never been easier to deploy and realise. The demand for flexibility and workspaces that meet uniquely individual needs is fast becoming the way people need to work. After all, in our changing world, standing still is no longer an option and diversity is widely recognised as a contributor to business success.
In these difficult times, the emphasis is on growing your wealth to ensure that you can survive the tough times and plan for the future. As a business owner, large or small, flexibility and a dynamic, easy to access environment should definitely be included in your business strategy.
A third of all workers in South Africa now work from outside their company’s main offices for half the week or more.
The new SPACES brand opened in South Africa in September 2017, and offers an inspiring work environment for professionals and growing businesses. Next to office space, there are memberships and meeting rooms to help individuals think, create and interact with like-minded people. SPACES’ goal is to offer inspirational surroundings with an entrepreneurial spirit where ideas are born, a company evolves, and valuable relationships are built.