Coworking Europe Conference 2015, Milan, Italy

And here we meet again at the annual Coworking Europe Conference, held this year at the buzzing city of Milan, Italy. Seeing many familiar faces and meeting new friends from the coworking sector created invaluable networking opportunities with much exchange of ideas and knowledge.

This year the conference gathered over 400 space operators and facilitators from around the world with a comprehensive list of speakers, workshops and informal – “unconference” – panel of discussions. With raising awareness and attention towards the coworking industry and the flexible way of working, the statistics spoke for itself.

We gathered an overview of some of the interesting numbers shared during this 3 days, which map the current status of coworking in the useful means of numbers and percentages.

How many coworking spaces do you think are there around the globe? You will be surprised to learn that the numbers have doubled since two years ago – there are 7800 coworking spaces in 2015 as opposed to 3400 in 2013. Only within the last 12 month there has been an increase of +36% of new spaces opening worldwide. And the trend seems to only go upwards.

The frequency of using coworking spaces as main hub for working has also increased. 73% of members work at a coworking space three times a week and 44% come every day. This is more than a 20% jump comparing statistics from 2014.

With regards to members and the global coworking community, the average coworking space has around 30% more members than two years ago. Number of members worldwide is 510,000 in 2015 as opposed to 295,000 in 2014

This also reflects the trend of the growing number of freelancers as well as people working remotely. In a presentation from Baptiste Broughton, Founder Neo-Nomade – an online platform connecting big corporations with coworking spaces, shared his findings of the growing demand by their employees for a desk within a coworking space. Detaching from the formal business environment as well as reducing the commute time increases employees’ satisfaction with 65%. These employees would also have access to a community of like-minded professionals from a range of industries – a rich pool for new ideas and inspiration.

As the first cowoking operator in Europe, eOffice opened its doors in 2002, making us well ahead with 13 years of experience.   In comparison, the average coworking space in now 32,8 months old, a proof of the early stages of this industry.

What drives entrepreneurs and startups in the coworking spaces is the need to connect, collaborate and create. In a recent study, 75% of members in coworking spaces expect to be engaged in casual talk with other members and 68% expect knowledge sharing when they join a coworking space. The access to like-minded community has been established as one of the most valuable aspects of being part of a coworking space.

Once settles, the members are quick to meet and get to know each other. This reinforces the feeling of security and comparing to 30% in 2013, in 2015 over 51% of people in coworking spaces leave their phone and possession always unattended.

This and many more interesting facts were shared over the course of the 3-day conference. See you again next year for more doubling statistics and many new comers in the industry.