WHAT IS A PART-TIME OFFICE?
A part-time office is a workspace that enables two businesses to rent an office for a few days a week rather than for all 5.
The average number of days an office worker spends in the office has gone down from 3.8 to 1.5 since 2019, according to a survey by Advanced Workplace Associates in 2022. As a result, a part-time office may be a fantastic solution for modern teams looking to only pay for an office on days they, you know, actually need it!
Part-time offices are rapidly increasing in popularity as businesses adapt to the post-pandemic world where employees expect more flexibility around their working set-up. And in the current economic climate, a full-time lease, paying for all those empty desks, doesn’t make much sense.
HOW DO PART-TIME OFFICES WORK?
Usually, a part-time office comes into being when an existing business tenant has a full-time lease on an office but has days of the week when it is not being occupied. To help with office expenditures, they decide to rent their office out on days that they are not there to another business, meaning that both of these companies now share the same office, and both have a “part-time office”.
This reduces office costs for both businesses and means their workspace solution more closely matches their hybrid way of working.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A PART-TIME OFFICE?
The first big (and rather obvious) benefit of a part-time office is reduced office costs. By only paying for an office for part of the time, organisations can see massively reduced costs for office expenditures instantly, often shaving off over 50% of annual costs.
Another benefit of a part-time office is it provides companies that otherwise would be fully remote an opportunity at an affordable price to have a central, private location for staff meetings, training days, and general socialising which means they can allocate funds that otherwise would have been locked in a lease to other areas like staff raises, bonuses and employee experience programmes.
Also, by only renting it part-time, companies can get a more desirable office for their budget, whether it’s more desirable in its location or whether it’s perfect for hosting clients. This is also great for recruiting as it enables companies to attract top-tier talent without overcommitting on their office costs.
A part-time office with the capacity to hold an entire business means that leaders can bring their entire team together on set days rather than taking a smaller office that won’t allow that level of collaboration.
IS A PART-TIME OFFICE RIGHT FOR MY BUSINESS?
When considering a part-time office, it’s important to work out whether it fits with your current and future setup. Are you considering a full-time return to the office? Do you have events that occur on random days you can’t predict? Are you looking to hire from different regions to reduce salary costs? These things will impact whether a part-time office may be right for your business.
However, if you’re a flexible business with a hybrid, forward-thinking mindset, exploring a part-time office solution could be an excellent opportunity for your business to reallocate funds from office rental costs to more important areas like staff well-being, payroll, and recruitment to ease the workload for your team.
HOW CAN I GET A PART-TIME OFFICE?
You’re in the right place! Space32 is the first office leasing marketplace offering part-time options. You can check out our current listings in any area you are interested in and for as many days as you need it. If you are a current tenant and are wondering if you could make some money from your spare office space, then check out our hybrid host registration process.
