Singapore Coworking Space Operators See Rebound In Occupancy

SINGAPORE – Coworking space providers revealed that the occupancy levels of their local branches have significantly recovered, reported The Business Times on Monday morning (17 October, SGT).

“We’ve seen increasing footfall in our centres in the city-fringe and heartland areas within this year alone, including at Tampines, Jurong, Joo Chiat, Paya Lebar, Novena and Changi Business Park,” said Darren Rogers, Country Manager at IWG.

Aside from that, visits to IWG’s Singapore coworking outlets have surged by almost 65 percent so far this year. Notably, the coworking space operator has 22 coworking centres here with a combined net lettable area (NLA) of 492,814 sq ft across 4 brands, namely No. 18, Spaces, Regus, and Signature.

At JustCo, its Chief Corporate Officer Ho Seng Chee shared that the number of members using its Singapore coworking outlets during weekdays has nearly increased by 3-fold in September compared to the same period a year ago.

The coworking space operator also disclosed that its global occupancy has rebounded to more than 80 percent after it rose steadily since January 2022.

“Post-pandemic, we have noticed a greater receptivity for coworking and flex space. There is increased demand for co-working across all our markets in Asia Pacific,” said Ho, adding that more global firms are utilising coworking space as their main office.

In Singapore, JustCo runs 17 coworking outlets with a total area of over half a million sq ft. It also noted that more members are working at different branches as opposed to just 1 outlet, indicating the growing popularity of the work-from-anywhere model.

This month, the coworking space provider intends to launch a 48,000 sq ft coworking centre at the International Plaza.

At WeWork, which has 14 coworking centres in Singapore, its occupancy rate rose 25 percentage points to 87 percent in Q2 2022 as compared to the corresponding quarter last year. Its daily footfall also increased by 21 percent on a quarterly basis during the same period.

As for The Executive Centre, the occupancy level of its Singapore branches rose from 75 percent in Q3 2022 to 95 percent currently. Its attendance rate, which plunged to about 10 percent to 15 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic, has also rebounded to more than 80 percent.