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Comment by Multiplayer | Hacker News Reader

Having used wework for a couple of businesses, and left after 12 months or so, I have a slightly different view.

I think wework is a noisy, distracting and expensive pit stop on the way to remote work. The company turnover at the weworks we were at was remarkable, to me. I don’t know the root causes (business closing? Unsatisfied?) but it seemed very transient.

Our businesses moved to fully remote and enjoyed a significant rise in productivity each time.

Wework feels like a massive bet on open plan offices. They didn’t work for us.

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Companies entering a new market will rent a spot for their "6 person team" at WeWork. And within a year they'll transition to a real office.

WeWork is indeed a pitstop. A pitstop to better offices for companies on the rise. Or a pitstop to working from home for people who think they need an office to work from but eventually don't.

Is it different in the US? in the UK (London) it is literally like 25% (£1000+) more expensive than just renting a "normal" (nice) office. Couple that with the "noob" factor of having clients or whoever walking into a big "WeWork" labelled building, and i just simply don't get why people do this. The offices and facilities in most of them also look like glorified cafes. If it was dirt cheap i'd get it, but at the moment i'm just at a loss. What are you paying for?

I can't speak for WeWork specifically since the closest one to me is about 3 hours away, but I'm renting space at another co-working place near me starting next week. The space is $275/mo for a dedicated desk, compared to $1300/mo for the cheapest (second floor) office space nearby. And that $1300/mo does not include furniture, utilities, or coffee. If you need an office, it's a no-brainer. And I'm not going to meet clients at my home.

I'm not sure what "noob" factor there would be... meeting clients at home would be worse. Meeting them at a cafe would be better than at home, but worse than an office. WeWork or any other coworking office is one step below your own office, but far above the alternatives. If you're worried about the signals you're sending to clients, at least a rented office (even at WeWork) sends the message "we have enough money to afford this". A cafe or home office does not send the same message.

Sorry, i should have been more specific.. i'm talking about the 6 person company the OP was on about (assuming they get a private office for 6 people) as opposed to just one singular person here. From what i can see in my cursory googling and previous experience looking for offices, wework still comes out a lot lot more for a lot less.

Ah yes I missed that part, sorry. I guess that if WeWork is month-to-month, it might be better to size up or down as opposed to a three year lease?

Well the theory is this. Company X wants to open an office in London. But they don't know much about real estate, and don't have time to search around for offices, sign a multi-year lease, or get furniture.

But they can sign a deal with WeWork that gets them a 6-person enclosed office that they can move into tomorrow.

So you pay a premium to avoid the hassle of doing it yourself. Much like anything in life.

And if the expansion into London doesn't work out, they cancel the month-to-month lease with WeWork and their financial exposure is finite. You can't just walk away from a 3-year office lease.

Yes - in my experience, coworking spaces are ‘until’ spaces: “until we get a real office”, “until we decide what we’re actually going to do”, “until we commit to being fully remote”

This was highlighted for me when a friend’s company’s office was damaged by a burst water main and they moved the entire team to a local co-working space....until their office was renovated.

Sure - you could make a bet coworking is like Bridal magazines - and count on a large continuous flow of demand by very short-term customers. Not the kind of bets I like.

I love that analogy. Coworking spaces are like bridal magazines. Something you only need for a year and then may never need again, lol.

Is that what the actual spaces of a WeWork are like? I've never done co-location/co-working spaces, only offices. But if they really are open planned, that sounds like a nightmare. Open office plans are bad enough when it's just your team. Sharing one with people from all sorts of different teams? No thank you. So much research out there showing how bad open plans are for productivity and employee happiness.

It's a little worse than open space. Imagine that your office is a conference room with glass walls, and many/most people try to get work done in the lunch area.

That commons is a fun space, and easy to plop down in, but not super-conducive to productivity.

On the plus side, some vendors come along with free beignets if you'll just listen to their pitch.

Agreed. If I could buy stock in “remote work” I’d do that way before buying stock in We.

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