Once upon a time, when people were willing to work next to perfect strangers in an office, spittle droplets be damned, WeWork was as synonymous with co-working as Kleenex is to tissue and Xerox is to missed opportunities (I kid!). WeWork has been through a lot since those inspirational early days; we all know the backstory of their founder troubles, failed IPO, and COVID-19 woes. What still remains unclear is what WeWork will become. Now they are showing a bit of the vision for the company that tried to put the We in everything from daycare to wave pools.

Going corporate

WeWork has just announced their new line of enterprise services that includes the “software and labor needed for companies to develop human resources, process payroll, employee benefits, and technology support, among other services.” This move is in line with a recent study done by the research company IDC that predicts the majority of growth in the flexible office sector will be on the enterprise level. Even if it might be a while before strangers allow themselves to cohabitate a workspace together, companies are looking for office solutions that can provide the flexibility needed for their workforce's new needs.

Selling out

On the surface, creating enterprise solutions to go along with your flexible office product seems like a great cross-selling opportunity. This could help shape WeWork into a mainstay enterprise service provider like SAP or ADP. But, this might be a hard sell to large companies that often already have their own departments and vendors in place for these kinds of business services. It will also make it a lot harder for WeWork to remain synonymous with the co-working startup culture that they once were. If we ever go back to that free and easy hotdesking lifestyle, it will be interesting to see if WeWork tries to dust off its hoody and fit in with the cool kids once again.