They're a ripoff, and I predict a decline in coworking as it currently exists, not growth. I'm saying this as someone who is currently working out of a coworking space, though not WeWork at the moment. No, WeWork is absurdly overpriced in LA, possibly in general.
Actually, most if not all coworking spaces are a ripoff unless you've got a small team working out of one. For individuals, it's borderline not worth it if they aren't making obscene amounts of money.
I work remotely and use a coworking space because cafes are dreadful environments for getting anything done. As has been mentioned on HN before, restaurants and cafes have been getting louder, meaning headphones must be used 99.9% of the time. Even nicer cafes have flimsy tables, bad Wifi, and lousy parking.
If space for individuals to work at is really in demand, all that cafes and chains like Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf need to do is wise-up and make relatively minor changes to their existing storefronts or possibly build secondary venues for people who want to get work done, and the idea of managing huge office buildings and paying for them with a nominal $300+ per month fee comes crashing down like a house of cards.
I would gladly work out of cafes and buy drinks and food every day if cafes would fix their existing issues. And I suspect I'm not the only one.
As soon as I get a home with a room I can set up an office in, I'll gladly cancel my membership.
Just want to point out that cafes and restaurants don’t have issues they can resolve by focusing on the remote worker demographic. Their rent per square foot means their whole business is predicated on turnover. They do not control their largest expense.
Actually, most if not all coworking spaces are a ripoff unless you've got a small team working out of one. For individuals, it's borderline not worth it if they aren't making obscene amounts of money.
I work remotely and use a coworking space because cafes are dreadful environments for getting anything done. As has been mentioned on HN before, restaurants and cafes have been getting louder, meaning headphones must be used 99.9% of the time. Even nicer cafes have flimsy tables, bad Wifi, and lousy parking.
If space for individuals to work at is really in demand, all that cafes and chains like Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf need to do is wise-up and make relatively minor changes to their existing storefronts or possibly build secondary venues for people who want to get work done, and the idea of managing huge office buildings and paying for them with a nominal $300+ per month fee comes crashing down like a house of cards.
I would gladly work out of cafes and buy drinks and food every day if cafes would fix their existing issues. And I suspect I'm not the only one.
As soon as I get a home with a room I can set up an office in, I'll gladly cancel my membership.