Spaces for a mobile workforce

More than two-thirds of global employees now work remotely every week, and over 50 per cent do so for at least half of the week, according to a comprehensive international study by International Workplace Group (IWG), a global operator of leading workspace providers.

The study, a poll on flexible working attitudes - surveyed over 18,000 professionals from a range of different industries across 96 countries.

For Singapore, the study indicated that 63 per cent of employees are now working at least one day a week somewhere other than the office. Almost half (47 per cent) work remotely for half of the week or more, whilst one in 10 (11 per cent) people work outside of their company's main office location five times a week.

This rise of the mobile workforce has also led to an increasing demand for flexible workplace solutions such as co-working sites.

Working remotely

IWG's study reinforces how clocking nine-to-five at the office is increasingly becoming an anomaly for global employees, including those in Singapore.

Mr Mark Dixon, chief executive officer of IWG, says: "It is exciting that we are entering the era of the mobile workforce. Not just for individual employees, but for businesses too. This is a huge shift in the workspace landscape globally, and businesses are now looking closely at what this means for their corporate real estate portfolios."

IWG is rising to meet this demand with options such as Spaces, which has co-working offices in Robinson Road, TripleOne Somerset and Clarke Quay. Two brand-new additions, Paya Lebar Quarter (PLQ) is due to open in April, and One Raffles Place, in May.

Spaces' PLQ workspace is targeted at corporate shakers and entrepreneurs in the eastern part of Singapore. With world-class features and facilities, PLQ is geared to enable large organisations with seamless services and flexibility to plan for their business growth in a conducive co-working space with world-class features and facilities.

Located in the Central Business District, the One Raffles Place workspace will become the flagship site for Spaces in Singapore, conveniently linked to the Raffles Place MRT Station, making it an ideal and easily accessible workspace for start-ups, entrepreneurs and established businesses.

Both new workspaces will bring Spaces' existing regional network to 39 locations across the Asia Pacific region that includes China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand and New Zealand.

Mr Martijn Roordink, chief executive officer and founder of Spaces, says: "Singapore is an international hub for businesses and one of the most vibrant markets in the world. It is a perfect fit with Spaces' culture of expanding networks and connecting like-minded members to link up and share ideas."

"The co-working space sector has grown significantly over the years as enterprises recognise the fact that people are far more productive and successful in an enjoyable, social and inspiring work environment. Firms are also looking for flexible workplace options to achieve better cost control and talent retention."

"Spaces has the benefit of leveraging the strong infrastructure within the IWG network, which allows us to deliver world-class workspace network and experience, and more importantly, sets us apart from our competitors."

Businesses and professionals alike are recognising the benefits of flexible working:

Source: The Workspace Revolution - Reaching The Tipping Point, iwgplc.com