In the past 5 years or maybe a bit more, coworking spaces and serviced offices slowly but surely did change the atmosphere of office leasing in the Philippines. Although, the office leasing market in the country is more conservative than most of the first world markets, its still following the new trend which is the flexible office space that both coworking spaces and serviced offices offer.
Here we would like to briefly talk about both the advantage and disadvantage of a coworking space vs a serviced office and vs the traditional office space. First of all, lets differentiate a coworking space from a serviced office.
A coworking space is a common space that is shared by different companies' employees or even owners where they do not have exclusivity in any of the workstations or seating space. A serviced office on the other hand is a dedicated space or even just one seat for one company and its employees. There are service providers in the Philippines where they offer both options in one facility. They would usually cut the space and put exclusive rooms for serviced offices and make another room as common space which they will offer as coworking space. Naturally, a coworking space comes at a more affordable rate than a serviced office.
A photo of coworking giant WeWork's facility in Williamsburg, New York
See the table we prepared to summarize the main differences of the three options:
To sum it up, advantages and disadvantages of these options are subjective to each client's current needs. If a company is a start-up, it would be safer to go for a coworking space or a serviced office which gives flexibility and less commitment when it comes to both the lease term and the heavy CAPEX spending. While if you are an established company, it is of course most recommended to plan long-term and go for the option that will give you the most cost savings.
Since there are a lot of players now in the coworking space and serviced office industry in the Philippines, these players had been very competitive when it comes to pricing and inclusion of additional services.
If you are looking for a coworking space or serviced office that is right for you, Office Pro can help you get lease or service proposals from them where we can side-by-side evaluate and choose the best one for you. Just send us your requirements at inquiry@officepro.ph
Or get to know more service providers with our lists per central business district: