Rethinking Workspace

New York city is the second largest flexible office market globally with a wide mix of providers offering space. Rates vary dramatically across the city with some of the highest average rates per desk globally being achieved in the city. While the majority of supply exists in Manhattan in the last 12 months we have seen a move towards other boroughs such as Queens, Brooklyn and even Staten Island.

Singapore continues to see high levels of supply growth year on year with one of the largest flexible workspace markets in Asia found in the Island City-State. Singapore has long been a key business hub and with very limited office supply was a natural expansion ground for flexible working as providers looked to expand outside of their home markets. Because of this the share of large international operators is high across the city although niche coworking providers continue to pop up as the market develops.

Thanks to the tech boom in the city over the last decade the demand for high quality office space has been ever present. This meant that San Francisco was one of the first US cities to see a real flexible workspace industry. Rates remain some of the highest in the US and while larger companies are looking to create their own flexible environments the number of small companies looking to grow in the city creates continuous demand. Due to the cost of commercial real estate in the city we have more recently seen providers move out of the city core and into the wider bay area.

Developed by Instant and the International WELL Building Institute, the WELL Coworking Rating is the first health and well-being rating designed exclusively for the coworking industry.

In this installment of the “I’m Flexible” series, Ben Wright, Global Head of Partnerships at The Instant Group, speaks with Mark DePiero, Senior Vice President Real Estate at Arch Amenities Group.

From demand patterns to evolving corporate real estate strategies, explore five major post-pandemic shifts transforming workspaces across global markets.

As workplace strategies continue to evolve, businesses are looking beyond traditional leasing models to find agile, cost-efficient, and experience-driven office solutions.

The flexible workspace industry is at a defining moment—standing between accelerated growth and a potential plateau.