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Coworking Movement Grows as Steve Case Invests By Christine Durst & Michael Haaren March 29, 2012 The coworking trend just got a big push with an investment from AOL founder Steve Case. But first, the backstory. What is this brave new way of working, and why should we care? THE FABLED “THIRD PLACE” Ever since the Almighty created home offices and Dilbert cubes, millions of people, including a growing torrent of “road warriors,” have wanted a “third place” to work in. If you work from home exclusively, you probably know how isolating and boring it can sometimes be. You yearn for a “species fix,” the stimulation of live conversation, the milk of human companionship. If you commute to a cube, you yearn for variety, too, in setting and neighbors. And if you can shorten your freeway time in the bargain, so much the better. If you’re a road warrior, you want a place to set down the laptop, boot up, and give your dogs a rest. If you can eliminate the noise of coffee grinders, steam spouts and shouted latte orders, and loud music overhead, it’s a huge plus. Coworking centers – over 1,100 of them now around the globe, according to coworking magazine Deskmag – sprouted up to meet these needs. From Pittsburgh to Prague, and Memphis to Manila, you can find a congenial place to work for the day, week or month, perhaps with a café and even daycare, too, alongside someone just like you. RENT-YOUR-BEDROOM MEETS RENT-YOUR-CUBE Paralleling the growth of coworking has been a trend called “collaborative consumption.” If you have a spare bedroom or sleep sofa, you can rent it out to a passing guest (Airbnb.com). Got extra driveway space or a bay in the garage? You can rent that out, too (Parkatmyhouse.com). Now enter Loosecubes (Loosecubes.com), the startup that Steve Case has invested in. If a company has cubes or desks sitting empty, it can sign up at Loosecubes and rent them out to road warriors, work-at-homers, etc. Loosecubes already reports listings in “660 cities and 73 countries.” With venture funding behind the site, those numbers are sure to grow. In the bigger picture, according to Deskmag and Businessweek, some 60% of office space is a “dead zone.” According to research firm IDC, there will be 120 million mobile workers in the U.S. by the end of next year. Those two statistics alone can spell tremendous change for sectors ranging from commercial real estate to highways to automobiles to “casual dining” (Starbucks, McDonald’s, etc.). “WORK” AN ACTIVITY, NOT A PLACE The growth of coworking, telework and the mobile workforce – spurred on by iPads, WiFi in cars, Skype, and a host of other communications developments – is rapidly detaching “work” from any particular place. Increasingly, it’s simply an activity that can be done from anywhere. The man in the grey flannel suit, leaving his 1950s suburban front door and saying “I’m off to work, honey!” as he heads for a day at “the office,” is a wispy ghost now, barely remembered. He’s been replaced by a twentysomething in jeans and a tee shirt and a new tattoo, with a tablet in one hand and a coffee cup in the other, looking for a spare cube, a spare couch, a spare driveway, or all three. ---- Christine Durst and Michael Haaren are leaders in the work-at-home movement and advocates of de-rat-raced living. Their latest book is Work at Home Now, a guide to finding home-based jobs. They offer additional guidance on finding home-based work at www.RatRaceRebellion.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2012 BY STAFFCENTRIX, DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM |
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