This year made one thing clear: coworking is no longer a pandemic workaround; it’s now infrastructure. Demand stabilized after years of volatility, with operators transitioning from rapid expansion to disciplined growth. Enterprise clients became the core customer, using flex space as a permanent extension of their real estate strategy rather than a short-term fix.
Landlords leaned further into partnerships instead of competition, integrating coworking into office buildings to boost occupancy and tenant retention. At the same time, operators focused less on headline-grabbing openings and more on profitability, utilization, and longer-term contracts.
Coworking in 2025 moved from “flexibility at all costs” to a more mature model built around consistency, performance, and smarter space use. Here are the five shifts that defined the year.
1. Flex Went Fully Mainstream
Flexible workspace firmly crossed into the core office market in 2025, becoming a standard component of occupier portfolios rather than a backup option. Flex gained share across regions as companies sought shorter commitments, premium amenities, and geographic agility.
-
U.S. coworking surpassed 8,400 locations and 152M sq ft, with Manhattan leading in scale and secondary cities growing fastest
-
Flexible offices accounted for 30% of all office transactions in France, led by Paris and regional hubs
-
Over 50% of global office occupiers now use flex space, with usage peaking in EMEA and the Americas
-
London flex space is projected to reach 20% of total office stock by 2030
2. Enterprise Took Over
Demand shifted decisively from startups to large corporates, reshaping how coworking space is designed, sold, and priced. Enterprises favored longer agreements, private offices, and collaboration-heavy layouts aligned with hybrid work strategies.
-
Major tenants like Amazon, Goldman Sachs, and leading tech and AI firms drove U.S. and global leasing rebounds
-
India saw record office absorption, with flex operators and large domestic companies leading demand
-
Meeting rooms, private suites, and enterprise-grade amenities became the top priority across flex spaces
-
Nordic firms reported rising in-office collaboration, with 29% planning to convert half their portfolios to flex by 2027
3. Landlords Chose Partnership Over Competition
Rather than running coworking themselves, landlords increasingly partnered with experienced operators or launched managed flex models to stabilize income and protect asset value.
-
London saw rapid growth in landlord-run “brandlord” and managed flex spaces
-
IPUT Real Estate expanded its Studio flex brand in Dublin to over 10,000 m² through prime acquisitions
-
U.S. landlords turned to flex to backfill space amid uneven office recovery
-
Flex space remains undervalued by lenders and appraisers, prompting the launch of the Workplace Intelligence Network to improve data transparency
4. Growth Shifted Beyond Central Business Districts
Hybrid work continued to pull demand toward secondary cities, suburbs, and commuter-friendly locations, even as top-tier Central Business District (CBD) assets showed early signs of recovery.
-
U.S. secondary cities like Denver, Raleigh–Durham, Newark, and Arizona suburbs recorded strong coworking expansion
-
Bengaluru led India’s flex market with a 31% share, fueled by suburban growth and housing affordability
-
Australia reported 18% flex growth, with Hybrid-Flex formats now representing half the market
-
While prime CBD assets attracted investors, cities like Shenzhen and Shanghai faced record-high office vacancies
5. The Industry Matured
2025 was less about rapid expansion and more about operational discipline, profitability, and long-term positioning as coworking evolved into a stable real estate category.
- IWG opened 496 locations in H1, added 32 sites in Florida, expanded 300% in Egypt, reached 22 locations in Hong Kong, and plans to double India
- WeWork unified its reset, combining a $100M upgrade program, $1M rebrand, and first-ever profit in India ($15.4M FY25)
- Operators focused on tech, sustainability, meeting rooms, and utilization data to meet enterprise demand
