Why Coworking Spaces Work (and Why More Teams Are Choosing Them)

Remote work proved you can do great work from anywhere. It also revealed a new problem: "anywhere" can start to feel like "nowhere." Coworking spaces sit in the sweet spot between the flexibility of home and the energy of a shared office, giving people structure, community, and professional-grade space without a long-term lease.

Below are the biggest benefits of coworking, backed by research and real-world market data.

1) People Tend to Feel Better and Work Better in Coworking Environments

One of the most-cited findings on coworking comes from research highlighted in Harvard Business Review. In a study of coworking members, people reported "thriving" scores close to 6 on a 7-point scale, which the authors note is roughly a point higher than traditional office workers.

That is not magic. It is design. Many coworking spaces intentionally combine:

• Autonomy (you control how you work)
• Belonging (you are around other people doing focused work)
• Purpose cues (you are in a place that signals "this is work time")

When those three show up together, it becomes easier to hit flow and stay consistent.

2) Coworking Helps Counter the Loneliness and "Remote Strain" That Many Workers Feel

Gallup's global workplace research consistently shows that loneliness and wellbeing are real issues in modern work.

In Gallup's State of the Global Workplace insights, 1 in 5 employees globally reported feeling lonely "a lot" the previous day.

Gallup also reports that fully remote employees have higher loneliness (25%) than fully on-site employees (16%).

And while fully remote workers can be highly engaged, Gallup found they are less likely to be thriving in life (36%) than hybrid workers (42%), and they report more negative emotions like loneliness and stress.

Coworking does not "fix" remote work, but it gives people an easy, repeatable way to add social proximity without losing flexibility. Even light-touch interaction (seeing familiar faces, exchanging quick hellos, taking breaks near other humans) can reduce the feeling that you are working alone on an island.

3) It Is Not a Niche Anymore, Coworking Is a Mainstream Infrastructure Layer

Coworking has moved past the "freelancer trend" phase. There are millions of people using it globally, and the market size has scaled accordingly.

Grand View Research estimates the global coworking market at $14.91B (2023) and projects $40.47B by 2030 (with continued growth).

Academic research summarizing industry data notes projections of around 5 million people working in roughly 42,000 coworking spaces worldwide by 2024 (referencing Statista-based estimates).

In the U.S., CoworkingCafe reported 7,840 coworking spaces by the end of Q1 2025, up from 7,695 at the end of the prior quarter.

Translation: coworking is increasingly part of the normal "workplace stack," especially for hybrid teams and distributed companies.

4) For Companies, Coworking Offers Flexibility Without the Risk of Long Leases

Corporate real estate used to be binary: sign a long lease, or do nothing. Flex space changes that. Companies can add capacity for a new market, a project team, or a hiring spike without committing to years of fixed cost.

CBRE research on flex adoption in the tech sector found:

• 94% of surveyed respondents had used flexible office space in their portfolio
• 36% expected to more than double their use of flexible office space by 2024

Even if your organization is not "tech," the pattern is the same: when headcount and hybrid policies are uncertain, optionality is valuable.

5) Coworking Improves Focus by Separating "Home" from "Work" Without Adding Commute Overhead

This part is intuitive, but it is worth stating plainly: environment shapes behavior.

At home, the cues are mixed. Laundry, packages, pets, roommates, the couch, the kitchen. In a coworking space, the cues are aligned. People around you are working, the layout is designed for work, and the social norm is focus.

For many people, that creates a reliable routine:

• "Deep work" days in coworking
• "Heads down at home" days when you need quiet
• "Collaboration days" with teammates in shared space

The benefit is not perfection. It is consistency.

6) It Strengthens Networks and Surface-Area for Opportunity

One of the underrated benefits of coworking is what economists sometimes call "serendipitous collisions," meaning you meet people you would not meet otherwise. Those weak ties are often how opportunities actually move: referrals, partnerships, candidate leads, customer intros, local vendor recommendations.

The best coworking communities do not rely on random luck. They create lightweight structure:

• Member intros
• Slack communities
• Lunch-and-learns
• Demo days
• Founder coffee chats

If you are building something, hiring, selling, or simply trying to stay energized, being around other builders matters.

How to Get the Most Out of Coworking (Without Overcommitting)

If you are new to coworking, the best approach is simple:

1. Start small: 1 to 2 days per week is enough to see benefits.
2. Choose for your work style: quiet zones, phone booths, meeting rooms, and hours matter.
3. Use it intentionally: make coworking your "deep work" or "collaboration" anchor.
4. Talk to people: not all day, just a little. Community is compounding.

Bottom Line

Coworking spaces are not just desks. At their best, they are a practical solution to modern work's biggest tension: flexibility versus connection.

The data supports what many people already feel:

• People report higher thriving in coworking communities.
• Loneliness is common in the workforce, and it is worse for fully remote workers.
• The coworking market is large, growing, and increasingly used by companies, not only freelancers.

If you want the flexibility of remote work, but you miss the momentum of being around people who are building, coworking is one of the highest-leverage changes you can make.