What was The Buzz in May?

May was a big month for industry events, kicking off with FlexSA in London, followed by GCUC in Seattle and CREtech Climate in Copenhagen. Themes across the board centred on employee wellbeing, how important ESG is as we stand on the precipice of irreversible climate change, and the rise and rise of flexible working.

As we move into a post-covid world 🤞 , the discussion rages on about the future of work. The big hitters are getting involved, showing that flexible working is an established money maker. IWG’s recent research reported 72% of workers would prefer to work flexibly long-term, over going back to the office five days a week with a 10% pay rise. It seems inevitable then that more companies are jumping on the flexible workspace wave:

Tesco is trialling using parts of its stores as a co-working space under a tie-up with workspace provider IWG. The partnership comes as supermarkets are increasingly looking for new ways to make money from physical stores, with many shoppers having switched to online deliveries.

Serendipity Labs makes its Dallas comeback as part of plans to nearly triple global footprint. The company wants to open 100 locations in the next three years in the United States, Canada and the UK, with plans to open its first location in Manchester, as part of a 25-location agreement with Newable.

Ikea and Ingka Centres launch co-working in Stockholm. Hej Workshop (Hello Workshop) has opened a new co-working concept of affordable community workspaces. The concept has been created and designed together with Ikea. Who designed the premises to suit different ways of working, combining traditional meeting rooms and workplaces with more relaxed common areas for networking, to be inspired, and find new energy.

Design for a happy workforce was the order of the day for Google, which opened its new ‘Bay View’ campus designed for worker flexibility:

It wasn’t all progress this month, with some outdated ideas voiced by key figures:

PWC hits back at Lord Sugars ‘lazy gits’ hybrid working tweet 

Remote working is making the UK a more equal place – however much Jacob Rees-Mogg may sneer

Let’s see what June has to offer…