In January this year, Deskmag published an article titled “WeWork harms 40% of all coworking spaces in its close vicinity, however…”. The article presents statistics from the Global Coworking Survey, which gathers data both from coworking and flexible workspace operators, as well as its users.
According to Deskmag, “half of all coworking spaces worldwide think that their economic perspectives are unaffected by WeWork. A fifth reported positive influences and a tenth reported negative influences.” Nonetheless, the survey also found that “every third coworking space views WeWork as a threat to its economic perspectives; however this opinion depends on the concrete vicinity to WeWork locations.
“Overall, the vast majority of the coworking spaces that report positive influences through WeWork are those that aren’t located in the direct vicinity to WeWork locations, but also not too far away.”
All of the above led us to ask the question: is WeWork a good neighbor, or not?
The short answer is yes and no.
WeWork’s valuation has for a long time been a topic of debate in the industry, and though many believe it’s not warranted, there is no denying that the coworking giant is well backed. These funds have been used for expansion, for acquisition, and for marketing. If we focus on the latter (marketing), we can argue that WeWork is indeed a good neighbor.