While shared office spaces were traditionally used by freelancers, solo entrepreneurs and small businesses, today they are frequented by all kinds of companies. With more and more companies choosing to offer a flexible style of working, rented offices have boomed in popularity for both startups and international enterprises.
In this blog, we’ll uncover some of the world’s biggest businesses that work from a shared office space, proving that rented offices really can work for every type of organisation.
- Microsoft
Microsoft was one of the first global and well-known businesses to make the move to shared office space, announcing in 2016 that it would be giving 30% of its New York employee base a coworking space membership. This has since snowballed with Microsoft employees all over the world benefiting from shared office space, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of course, for a company that specialises in the modern workplace and technology to enable remote working, this seems like a no-brainer. However, at the time, coworking was a relatively new concept for large enterprise organisations, with just 11,000 spaces worldwide – a small number when compared to the 23,000+ global shared offices available in 2022.
With the use of shared office space working well for Microsoft, they even adapted one of their own offices to replicate the coworking experience and deliver similar benefits. Microsoft Reactor delivers an “in-house coworking space” where businesses, universities, governments and entrepreneurs can connect with one another while utilising Microsoft technologies and expert resources.
- Meta (formerly Facebook)
Another global technology company using rented office space is Meta. With over 15,000 employees in Silicon Valley alone, Facebook was a fairly early adopter of shared office space, renting whole coworking buildings or floors to house huge numbers of employees.
Post-pandemic, Meta is fully embracing a culture of remote work and the option for its employees to work from any location, whether that be their home or a shared office.
In 2021, it was announced that all employees could request to work remotely if their job could be done out of an office, but noted that salaries would be adjusted if they were working from a lower-cost region.
As a company with over 65,000 employees worldwide, Meta utilises a combination of workspace options – not just coworking space. The company has 39 office locationsin addition to the shared office spaces used by its global workforce.
- IBM
Another early adopter of shared office spaces, IBM has been using rented offices since around 2014 when it leased space in around eight offices worldwide. The idea behind the move was to enable IBM business clients to meet with IBM employees and discuss how to build applications using the company’s Bluemix cloud platform.
This initial idea has since become one of the reasons why many large enterprises and Fortune 500 companies are establishing a presence in shared office spaces.
Being close to, and interacting with innovative startups, enables big companies to offer expertise to small businesses using their products to gather feedback and help them improve.
Like several other large software companies, IBM is planning to move forward with a more hybrid approach to work following the impact that COVID-19 had on its operations. Around 80% of the global workforce is expected to stay in a hybrid role at least some of the time, according to the company’s CEO.
- Jaguar Land Rover
Stepping away from technology-focused organisations, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is another big supporter of shared office space. With over 30,000 employees in the UK alone, JLR realised a need for additional space without the large costs associated with leasing private offices.
Another reason for the move to a shared office was the ability for JLR to work on more innovative projects, such as its ‘InMotion Ventures’ investment firm.
A big perk for large corporations when it comes to shared office space is the flexible licence terms that enable them to temporarily house employees or work on short-term experimental projects without the heavy investment they would spend on a private office.
- KPMG
KPMG is home to one of the largest networks of professional services firms in the world, providing financial audit, tax and advisory services in 145 countries.
They also employ more than 236,000 people across a number of divisions and job roles. The scale of the organisation lends itself perfectly to shared office space, with the firm taking full advantage of the cost savings associated with coworking spaces.
However, cost isn’t the only reason why KPMG is an advocate for rented offices. In 2021, the firm made the decision to vacate its central Milton Keynes office in favour of shared office space in Bletchley to allow more employees to take advantage of its new hybrid working model.
Additionally, KPMG has also decided to connect with more startups to better understand how entrepreneurs work and how they can collaborate together.
As a result, many KPMG employees have been deployed to London shared office space and other coworking hubs across the UK as opposed to traditional private offices.
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Choosing a shared office space
While many large corporations are moving into shared office space and taking advantage of the numerous benefits they offer, coworking spaces are still very much a hub for freelancers, startups and small businesses. If you’re wondering ‘Is there a shared office space near me’, Easy Offices have workspaces all over the UK with something to suit every business.
Find your perfect shared office space today.