This file photo provided by WeWork Korea shows its coworking location in Yeouido, Seoul.
SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Coworking spaces that once filled up downtowns and skyscrapers are now being set up in subway stations and residential areas following the coronavirus outbreak, targeting demand for ‘near-home offices’ that resolve the shortcomings of working at home while reducing commuting time.
Coworking space providers like Fast Five, WeWork and others have set up more offices in Seoul, going from 32 offices in 2018 to 76 this October.
Sparkplus opened four ‘SP Lounges’ simultaneously in four subway stations early this month, breaking the stereotype that shared offices are built in downtown buildings.
The shared office industry, inspired by the fact that an increasing number of individuals work from home, began to tap into empty real estate inside subway transfer stations that are close to large apartment complexes and have higher accessibility to multiple subway lines.
Local coworking space provider Jibmusil studied the residential location of employees at KT Corp., LG Display Co. and Kakao Corp. to open offices in six locations where the commuting routes collide.
It is currently engaged in a partnership with these companies, only 5 percent of which employees used the offices last November. Following the pandemic, however, the level of usage jumped to more than 50 percent.
As work-at-home practices are spreading throughout companies, some apartment complexes are coming up with shared offices of their own for the convenience of residents.
Shared office space has also been planned for several apartment complexes nearing completion in the central provincial city of Daejeon and Anyang, south of Seoul.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
