Welcome to the ‘third place’ work revolution

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The pandemic has made it difficult for some employees to carve out boundaries between their personal and professional lives. However, the rise of hybrid working and the availability of ‘third places’ are helping them overcome this challenge, making flex space a wise investment for franchisees.

American sociologists Ramon Oldenburg and Dennis Brissett first defined ‘third places’ in 1982 as crucial public spaces for people to interact, gather, meet and talk within their neighbourhoods. However, with the majority of modern professionals traditionally required to commute to dedicated city centre HQs daily, their connection to the area in which they live has eroded. Until now…

Thanks to the rise of hybrid working, where people can work from a combination of their company HQ, their home, and a local coworking space, we are seeing the rise of the 15-Minute City. This is an urban planning concept whereby residents can access everything they need—from schools to flex space—within a 15-minute walk or cycle from their homes. The result is that suburban communities are flourishing.

Unlike when people worked from home every day during periods of lockdown, hybrid working means people can create more delineation between personal and professional life without compromising on flexibility. Potential partners looking to invest in this long-term trend see massive growth opportunities.

The importance of third places as a social space that brings workers together to collaborate, converse, and network cannot be underestimated. IWG’s flexible workspaces are designed with collaboration in mind, and other companies are transforming their HQs to accommodate their new purpose in the new world of work.

Spotify, for example, is overhauling its office spaces to better balance collaboration and focused work. WeTransfer has removed half of its desks to create more meeting spaces, workshop rooms, and recording studios.

Multinational enterprises are also adopting the hybrid model at scale, providing their employees with access to flexible workspaces near their homes. NTT and Cisco are just two examples of companies that have partnered with IWG this year, giving their more than 300,000-strong combined workforce access to IWG’s global network of flexible workspaces.

Now, even the French government is recognising the importance of third places for the country’s post-COVID economic recovery. It is investing €130m in the development of third places, and the plan includes the creation of 100 “local factories” to boost regional economies hit hard by the pandemic. These will act as shared workshops where craftsmen, entrepreneurs, and small businesses can collaborate.

The potential benefits for businesses are huge – not least the impact these spaces can have on boosting productivity. Providing a third place for staff is a concept explored by Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, almost a century ago. He discovered that when he enforced break periods on his employees, productivity significantly increased.

Ultimately, IWG founder and CEO Mark Dixon says that empowering employees to work from third places, including flexible workspaces near home, will build a happier, more productive workforce.

He argues that it “gets them off the road, stops their time being wasted and ends the long commutes that can disrupt family life,” adding: “I predict that in 15 years – or 10, possibly even in five years – people will look back on our pre-pandemic routines and say, ‘How on earth did we use to work like that?’

Are you ready to meet the demand for flexible office space in 2024? Find out more about IWG’s franchising partnerships today.