
The WeWork problem people aren't talking about that is spreading - rmason
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/23/the-wework-issue-people-arent-talking-about.html
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EdNutting
This article is mostly hype and hyperbole it seems to me. A quick source check
(note: not a fact check by any means!) of just some of the stats in the
article show how badly they've misquoted.

It claims '40% of American workers will be freelancers by 2020' as a key point
- appears to not be true and is an incorrect quote.

I found the original Intuit report that this claim was based off.

[http://http-download.intuit.com/http.intuit/CMO/intuit/futur...](http://http-
download.intuit.com/http.intuit/CMO/intuit/futureofsmallbusiness/intuit_2020_report.pdf)

The report's actual claim was 40% of workers will be 'contingent workers' by
2020. The definition provided is 'freelancers, temps, part-time workers,
contractors and other specialists'.

That is a lot more than just freelancers and includes many people who have no
need of a desk in a freelancer/coworking space.

20,000 coworking spaces worldwide today doesn't sound like that many, but the
problem doesn't seem to be as big as CNBC thinks it is (or even the article
they're referencing which itself misquoted the stats). So much for checking
sources...

~~~
EdNutting
"71% of WeWork members were corporate full-timers at companies that were
either located in a WeWork office or used WeWork to house their remote teams"

Is another example of hype. The source article linked to merely says "Seventy-
one percent worked full-time for companies that are either located in a WeWork
office or use WeWork for remote individuals and teams."

Sounds a lot less dramatic - because it is. You'd probably expect most to be
working for companies, especially if they're startups or one/two employee
contracting outfits etc. They're not all big corps using the space for cheap
space and evil things :p

------
fyfy18
I recently looked for a co-working space in my city and it seems like most
places cater for companies rather than individuals.

Spaces (the same group as Regus) opened a 6 floor complex earlier this year.
Their co-working space has a grand total of 10 dedicated desks and a cafe-
style area with a few tables. The rest of the complex is (mostly empty)
private offices.

It seems that "co-working space" is the hip new term for "serviced office".

