The End Of The Office… (as we know it)

According to a recent study by technology company “Intuit”, over 40% of the UK population will be working as freelancers by 2020 — giving people the opportunity to work remotely from anywhere in the world.

The trend of freelancing has been increasing in recent years. According to the European Forum of Independent Professionals, the numbers of UK freelancers increased by 63% between 2004 – 2013. It is also now predicted that the number of self-employed workers will soon outweigh public sector workers for the first time in history.

The Future of Offices

So what does this mean for the future of offices?

Many freelancers agree that the novelty of “working from home” has quickly died down, as productivity and errands prove challenging in a make shift “work environment”.

The social aspect of an office space is still highly sought after, and as a result ‘co-working’ is now becoming the office of the future.

A typical co-working environment is a creative office space where self-employed people are able to rent a desk. This flexible yet social way of working offers people the freedom to be their own bosses in a formal workplace.

In the last two years, Google searches for ‘co-working’ have increased by 60%, reflecting the increasing demand for this innovative workspace.

The Growth of Co-Working

Consultant firm “Emergent Research” predicts that co-working is set in grow by 40% a year. Additionally the number of co-working locations worldwide increased by 83% alone in the last year.

Understandably, there are many advantages to being self-employed, but the recession peak has undoubtedly played a huge part in this decision making. In 2013 (five years post UK recession), seven million people across the EU had lost their jobs.

With fewer permanent roles available, becoming self-employed became less of a choice and more of a necessity.

Nowadays, people don’t want to live to work, they’d rather work to live. Different working styles and flexibility working hours are highly desirable and realistically achievable with the evolution of the workplace.