If you spend some time at Servcorp’s space in One World Trade Center, you’ll observe a stunning view of New York City and a tranquil silence. Eighty-five stories above Manhattan’s Financial District, you’ll scarcely hear a blaring siren or honking horn.
Although it’s partly a coworking space, denim-clad twentysomethings are conspicuously absent. Servcorp’s 155 locations around the world bare no resemblance to college dorm common spaces, archetypal tech startup offices or contemporary cafeterias -- think fewer hashtags and foosball tables, more red carpeting and marble. Many are in iconic high-rise buildings, and they’re meant to appeal to a professional clientele that seeks a more formal, or, as Chief Operating Officer Marcus Moufarrige describes it, “premium” experience.
If it seems that WeWork is the elephant in the room, it’s not. Moufarrige openly compares his business, founded by his father, Alf (who still serves as CEO), in 1978 and publicly listed on the Australian Stock Exchange since 1999, to the comparatively nascent WeWork (founded in 2010). Until recently, Servcorp’s website even featured a page called “Servcorp vs WeWork” detailing the differences between the two.