Another week, another ‘Wave’ 🗞

5 news items from the world of work and workplace you can digest in 5 minutes.

This week:

1. National coworking supply sees 10% growth over last quarter
2. Workers view flexible work as equivalent to an 8% raise
3. Personalized benefits eclipse salary as workers prioritize flexibility

Suburban Outposts: Coworking spaces are popping up in gyms and suburban outposts as hybrid work becomes the norm, reports The Pantagraph . With downtown office vacancies at record highs and return-to-work mandates failing to catalyze the commute, co-working is making new inroads in Chicago, cropping up everywhere from suburban shopping centers and apartment buildings to a swanky health club in River North. “We’re converting empty shops, we’re doing warehouses, we’re doing office buildings, we’re doing apartment blocks,” said Mark Dixon , founder and CEO of International Workplace Group plc . “For us, it’s a period of super-high growth. Where they’re really opening is in the suburbs. The forced experimentation of COVID sort of proved that not everyone has to be in a centralized location.” Read Full Article.

Industry Growth: National coworking space supply sees 10% growth over last quarter, reports Coworking Café . Coworking continues its upward trajectory across the U.S. and, with more flexible workspaces opening their doors every day and new operators entering the market, the changes in this industry are notable, even in the span of just a few months. As of June 2023, the national coworking space stock reached a total location count of 6,163. This was a 10% increase in the span of a quarter. Read Full Article.

The Back-to-Office Backfire: Companies ending WFH perks lose out on top talent, who view flexible work as equivalent to an 8% raise, reports Business Insider . Employers insisting on bringing employees back to in-person work are seeing slower hiring rates, The Wall Street Journal reports. According to Stanford economics professor, Nick Bloom , workers are putting increasing value on flexibility. Ensuring employees have a reasonable work-life balance leads to greater retention and increased performance. Research by Prithwiraj Choudhury , an associate professor at the Harvard Business School and remote work expert, found employees who work from home 75% of the time were the most productive: "When you allow flexibility, it expands your talent pool. Whether the economy is contracting or expanding, the best workers always have outside options. And so I think if you as a company have a model that doesn't give the best employees flexibility some of them — not every one of them, but some of them — will be poached by competitors." Read Full Article.

Changing Priorities: Personalized benefits eclipse salary as workers prioritize flexibility, according to Forbes . Over half (53%) of NYC workers surveyed by Tiger Recruitment said the benefits package was the leading factor in attracting them to their current job. And it will be their top priority when they search for their next position. Salary was the second consideration (41%). So, why have benefits taken on such significance, and how can employers respond to this growing trend? Workplace wellbeing consultant, Chivon John , says Covid-19 prompted people to reflect on their relationship with work, forcing many to reevaluate their priorities and put more emphasis on physical and mental health: “Having access to benefit programs such as paid leave (parental, sick, bereavement), mental health coverage, retirement savings, and flexible work can have a significant impact not only on employees but also on the wellbeing of families.” Read Full Article.

Return to Office Discounts: Google is offering staff a promotion to stay at its on-campus hotel for $99 a night to ‘make it easier for Googlers to transition to the hybrid workplace', reports Business Insider . The tech giant is trying to incentivize its workers to come into the office by promoting the "Summer Special" for its hotel on its campus in Mountain View, California. (Though workers will be expected to pay for the hotel stay out-of-pocket as it will not be considered refundable business travel.) The promotion generated some discussion on a Google internal employee forum, with some poking fun at the offer and others pointing out $99 a night would be cheaper than some of them pay for their apartments in the Bay area. For example, one month of sleeping at the hotel would cost a Google employee about $3,000 and the median rent for an apartment in San Francisco is about $3,600, according to Zillow . Read Full Article.