Sharing workspace easescosts, enhances networking
Print Edition
THE “sharing economy” is moving into the workplace in China after New York-based WeWork opened its first Asian branch in Jing’an District this month.
The company provides shared workspace and services to entrepreneurs, freelancers and startups that can’t afford to lease whole offices on their own. For a monthly fee, users get a desk or cubicle, utilities, brainstorming communal areas, and access to beverages.
Launched in 2010, WeWork now has more than 100 locations in 29 cities around the world. In March, the company secured US$400 million in its latest round of financing, though it has cut its revenue forecast for this year because of runaway costs.
The company’s entry in Shanghai is in tune with Premier Li Keqiang’s March statement.
“We need to move faster to boost the development of the sharing economy through institutional innovation,” he told the National People’s Congress.
China needs WeWork, said Fred Lu, general manager of the company’s China operations. He said Shanghai was chosen at the entry point to Asia because of the city’s international status and favorable investment environment.
On July 1, the company took over the second and third floors of a building at 135 Yanping Road, right in the heart of a gentrification area that now popular for its cafes and hip bars.
A huge fish tank forms one wall of the new office space, amid an chic industrial decor of exposed black pipes.
Twenty-three old radios and television sets placed at the entrance give the WeWork space a retro look. The walls are adorned with pictures of old Shanghai residential lanes and the bunny logo of the time-honored White Rabbit candy.
“In our Shanghai space, we want to make people feel they are in Shanghai,” Lu explained.
But the principal aim of WeWork everywhere is to create a community. Users often congregate in communal spaces to network, exchange ideas and brainstorm.
“Budding startups need to make connections, and we provide them a platform for doing that,” Lu said.
Unlike some similar domestic co-working spaces that are geared to users from only one field, WeWork accepts people from any sector.
“We highly value diversity, which livens up our space and also triggers more brilliant ideas and cooperation,” Lu said. “We just need to provide the right space, and then everything evolves naturally.”
By the end of this year, WeWork plans to open two more sites in Shanghai, followed by one in Seoul and two in Hong Kong.
“That fast-growing tenant pool is showing increasing demand in this marketplace,” Lu said.
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