Global Coworking Trends and Opportunities for 2025

Now well into 2025, the coworking industry continues to demonstrate strong momentum. With demand for coworking spaces remaining steady around the globe, it's clear that coworking is not just enduring—it's thriving. Let’s explore the major trends and opportunities shaping the global coworking landscape this year.

Coworking in the regions 

In 2023, 28% of the global population worked remotely, with some countries, including the UK, introducing a Flexible Working Bill to support workers requiring hybrid preferences. However, some large organisations plan to end hybrid work policies in 2025, with return-to-office mandates, from the likes of Amazon, recently hitting global headlines.

Although these measures aren’t wholly inclusive, they will increase demand for workspace. This isn’t reverting to the days of white box offices or central HQs. Discussions around ‘place’ are causing a workspace evolution, that matches organisational needs, worker preferences, and space requirements. 

When Manchester hosted the summer’s GCUC UK conference, conversations revolved around the rising demand for regional coworking in the UK. For example, flexible workspace operator – x+Why – launched a new space in Milton Keynes, while neighbourhood workspace brand – Patch – recently expanded to York and Bournemouth. 

The Working Near Home movement drives Patch founder, Freddie Fforde’s mission. From large flexible workspaces to more local coworking hubs, a range of work environments gives everyone choice, autonomy, and access to professional environments, from freelancers to small business owners, or employees working for larger organisations. 

Working closer to home strengthens a sense of community and belonging, improving well-being. Rising living costs and wider accessibility of digital infrastructure ensure the continuation of demand for regional coworking into 2025. 

Hotelification of the office and coworking spaces

The expectation for workplaces is that they’re no longer just places for work but ecosystems where people work, socialise, eat, work out, and play. This trend influences the redesign of workspaces into hybrid spaces. 

‘Hotelification of the office’ was defined in a recent New York Times article, as the ‘transformation of traditional offices into workspaces with hotel-life amenities,’ F&B and leisure facilities as examples. Workspaces look more like hotel lobbies, with comfortable seating, luxurious furnishings, and soft lighting, encouraging socialisation and collaboration. 

By 2030, JLL predicts that “30% of spaces will be flexible” (in 2023, this number was 2%).  To ensure that all spaces are used, operators must be flexible with monitoring space usage, and prepared to adapt to users’ needs, placing the new workspace experience first and foremost. An emphasis on customer service is also advised, as hospitality now firmly sits within the workspace sector. 

In today’s workspaces, amenities widely range from necessary green spaces and prayer rooms or breastfeeding spaces to saunas, podcast studios, and nap nooks. Jane Sartin (Executive Director at the Flexible Space Association), predicts the rise of “spaces with creative, out-of-the-box offerings designed to entice and retain members”.   

But it’s not just workspaces jumping onto the ‘hotelification’ trend. Hotel brands have experienced increasing numbers of remote workers using their hotel lobbies, with many offering incentives to bring more people into these spaces. Activating a space creates a buzz, it also generates revenue through F&B purchases. 

Niche workspaces serving a specific community

Freelancers and remote workers were once the main customer base for independent coworking spaces. But, as they turn to cheaper options – working from free or casual workspaces in hotel lobbies, and third places – it’s impacting the bottom line for coworking spaces, particularly independent brands. Couple that with challenges caused by reduced profit margins in line with rising utility bills and overhead costs. 

In response, some operators are niching down on their target audience. Niche coworking spaces are tailored environments, resources, and networks that cater to the specific needs of professionals, enabling them to thrive in their respective fields. 

For instance, Portugal’s first ‘fab lab’ or fabricating laboratory – Opo’Lab – provides a community of artists and designers with access to workshop space and equipment, including machines, materials, and tools to develop and refine their ideas and bring projects and products to market. 

Another branch of niche coworking spaces includes workspaces supporting people across underrepresented and marginalised intersectional communities. For example, Scotland’s first coworking space for women in Edinburgh – Egg & Co (that initially launched as an online community for women) – comes with a podcast studio. This amenity can significantly improve representation in a traditionally male-dominated sector – in 2022, only 29% of podcasters were women and 2% were non-binary.  

Demand for niche coworking spaces will continue this year. Operators are encouraged to add a greater layer of personalisation into their spaces and focus more on brand and community culture to hone in on supporting the needs of their specific communities. 

Sustainability and well-being initiatives

Decision makers are also influenced by sustainability efforts with, astonishingly, the built environment accounting for 40% of global carbon emissions, according to The Instant Group. In 2024, carbon reporting regulations have been introduced to many industries, putting sustainability at the forefront of business practices. 

Coworking operators must track their carbon footprint by installing smart technology into spaces. For example, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) sensors and Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems monitor space conditions. 

In terms of construction, building from the ground up is discouraged over repurposing existing buildings, for being more energy intensive. The retrofitting process is generally better for the environment, but a building’s history can also feed into a workspace brand. For instance, Clockwise Bromley (a workspace, hotel, and restaurant in one building) is located in the old Town Hall, a Grade-II listed building and a local landmark in the London borough. 

At this year’s GCUC UK conferences, panel discussions raised concerns about our ‘throwaway culture.’ Speaker and interior designer, Dean Connell, expressed that 80-90% of office furniture ends up in landfills. He believes operators should consider furniture longevity, and advises sourcing multi-functional furniture (such as transforming a desk into a dining table) and using materials that could return to their natural state. 

For example, BCorp flexible workspace operator, Huckletree, gave used office furniture to a local school instead of throwing it away to combat this issue. 

Sustainability initiatives in coworking spaces also filter down into the behaviours of the community. Coworkers can take greater responsibility and ownership over their workspace by undertaking green activities, from recycling to avoiding single-use plastics and switching lights and computers off at the end of the work day.  

But this trend, expected to continue this year, isn’t just about being green. Sustainability feeds into wellness and mental health, for example, having a workspace with lots of light improves mental well-being, happiness, and circadian rhythms, boosting Vitamin D production. 

The future of coworking

The coworking industry will continue to reflect a world where flexibility, community, and sustainability redefine how and where we work – setting the stage for a future where workspaces are as dynamic and diverse as the people who use them.