The History of Coworking in a Timeline

Commercial real estate’s office sector is changing, and desk area workstations are turning into a relic of past times.

Creative office space and coworking have gained full attention for its advancements, primarily due to the technology industry having enhancements that keep workers in the workplace. Regardless of the hip and free cafeterias, pool tables in common areas, or perhaps childcare for parents whose children aren’t school-aged yet.

Still, this phenomenon isn’t as new as some think.

The history of shared office spaces is surprisingly more protracted than we think. The idea of coworking first came to existence in 1995 when c-base, an association of engineers, created a ‘hackerspace’ in Berlin for computer hackers to meet and work together. Four years later, in 1999, the trend spread to New York City, and 42 West 24 was born by a software company to help contracted employees.

That same year, Bernard De Koven reportedly named the term “coworking” to describe the phenomenon of “working together as equals.” De Koven has since explained that “the whole idea of ‘working together as equals’ was a lot more revolutionary” than he expected because “people don’t work together as equals, especially not in the business world.”  

It took another six years before the first official coworking space opened in San Francisco. The phenomenon continued to build and reached new levels of popularity in 2009 when “I’m Outta Here” — the first book on coworking — embraced the solidarity of contract workers.

Coworking growth: It’s here to stay

It isn’t too astounding that the significant surges in coworking have concurred with times of development in website and innovation organizations. But, the trend has increased tremendously

As indicated by CBRE’s latest discharged shared-office report, the coworking pattern should encounter a “five-year compound normal yearly development pace of 21%” as companies cut expenses to manage spending shortages. 

With vulnerability in the economy, the nation still faces, to some degree, in light of the slowing down of financing cost rise, inhabitants of any kind are likely welcomed. Besides, there is a significant supply shortage for office space around the nation right now, due to high demand, work development, and absence of new growth. 

As a result, there is a flood of workers entering the independent-employment pool, who are either freelancers or contracted help. Though they are not traditional employees, this talent is often the face of a company. Contractors are playing a more significant role in everyday office life and becoming more critical to employers.

The tech industry has long hired contract workers. Microsoft has done it repeatedly throughout the years, and Uber is now using that model for its super-successful business based on on-demand drivers. And, this trend will not likely change any time soon. Flexibility is critical with the arrival of the talented millennial generation, which has different needs and wants than your traditional office worker.