January 17, 2022
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Are You a Solopreneur? Use These Effective Resources to Boost Business Today

By | Industry

Image from Unsplash

As a business of one, you’ve got to be well-equipped to deal with the day-to-day challenges of setting up your own venture. You’ll face good days and perhaps a lot of bad days – but take these opportunities as a way to grow your business while doing what you love. Learning and adapting from your mistakes is key to the entrepreneurial mindset. Lucky for you, there are tools and resources out there that will set you up for success while reducing those pesky mistakes from the get-go.

In this article, Business E Suites presents the most effective resources to help balance your tasks, make difficult decisions, and fatten up your savings account.

For Finding Work/Clients

The first step for any freelancer or solopreneur is to find work. You will need to get your services out there, establish your reputation and authority, and set yourself up as a quality provider. According to the Freelancer’s Union, approximately 57 million Americans switched to freelancing as of 2015. This indicates that there’s a lot of work out there – you just need to look for it in the right places.

Resources: Platforms like Fiverr, UpWork, and Guru, or online job boards.

For Running Your Business

You will also need to set up a business structure to ensure smooth sailing in the future. One of the best formations for those starting a new business is an LLC or Limited Liability Company. The benefits of an LLC include tax advantages, limited paperwork and liability, and the flexibility to operate within your own terms. Different states have different regulations for forming an LLC, so be sure to do your due diligence before moving ahead.

 

Resources: Online LLC formation sites like LegalZoom or ZenBusiness.

For Your Marketing

Marketing is a critical spoke in the wheel of a business, and you’ll need to stay on point with your strategy until you can expand enough to work with an agency. This includes branding, creating an eye-catching logo, setting up a stellar website, email marketing, and a digital marketing strategy that includes social media.

 

Resources: Try email marketing with Mail Chimp, and use social media sites like Instagram, FaceBook and TikTok. 

For Staying Current

As an entrepreneur, Info Entrepreneurs notes that you’ll understand that knowledge is power. To get a leg up on your competition and stay relevant, you’ll need to ensure you’re constantly learning and developing. You could do this by participating in networking events in your area or setting up a mentor relationship for advice. Signing up for online courses in various niche topics is another way to stay sharp in your field.

 

Resources: Networking sites like WeWork or StartupGrind or skill development websites like Skillshare or CourseHorse.

For Accountability

The best way to set yourself up in business is to stay consistent and keep motivated. However, even self-directed entrepreneurs can veer off track when they’re not monitoring and measuring their progress and success. Luckily, plenty of apps out there will help you set ‘SMART‘ – specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely – goals. Smartsheet has a handy worksheet to create your unique SMART goals online. Or else, you could find an accountability buddy and ride the wave together.

Resources: Goal tracking sites like Trello and Strides.

For Outsourcing

Every solopreneur will have to learn to delegate work to other freelancers and providers at some point. It is often not worth the time and effort to carry out certain tasks. Outsource these tasks so you can spend your time elsewhere and focus on growth and scalability.

Many US-based businesses find affordable talent in other countries such as Ukraine and Taiwan. If you do outsource to freelancers overseas, it’s important to set up a money transfer account to send payments. A transfer service like Remitly is reliable, secure, convenient and affordable. In fact, using Remitly to send funds to India costs nothing in transfer fees when $1,000-plus is sent, and there are more than 100,000 cash pickup locations in that country alone.

Resources: Outsourcing sites like Fiverr, Task Rabbit, and 99 Designs.

As a freelancer, you are your own boss. You make the rules – so why not make things easier for yourself? Arming yourself with the right tools and help is the most effective way to maintain your sanity when growing your business. You’ll have less to manage, thus letting you focus on the important stuff – thriving, succeeding, and of course, making profits.

Business E Suites offers you productive office space and workspace to establish your business in a professional environment. Contact us today for more info! 281-862-3150

December 14, 2021
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Frequently Asked Questions About Designing a Paid Time Off Policy

By | Industry

According to research, absenteeism costs employers $225.8 billion every year, but employees coming to work when they are sick may cost employers even more. One way to combat both issues is to create an effective paid time off policy for employees. If you have never designed a PTO policy before, these frequently asked questions can help you get started, presented below by Business E Suites.

What Is Paid Time Off?

Paid time off may refer to any kind of paid leave program, but usually indicates a program that gives employees a set number of days to use for any type of leave instead of separate days for vacation and sick time. In most systems, employees earn a set amount of PTO for each hour or day that they work.

What Are the Benefits?

Offering a robust benefits package is a valuable tool for distinguishing yourself from other employers that might be offering similar wages. It sends a message to employees that you care about their well-being and can help you attract and retain top employees.

PTO programs are more flexible than traditional leave policies.  These policies also eliminate the need for employees to explain to employers why they need a day off. This both reduces dishonest use of “sick days” and protects employee privacy. Because there is no need to track different types of time off, a PTO program can reduce the work required by the human resources department to track it.

What Are the Disadvantages?

Because PTO policies do not allocate a specific amount of days for sick or vacation time, some employees may come into work sick because they want to save their days off for other uses. PTO policies can also be more expensive if you operate in a state where you are required to pay employees who leave their jobs for unused vacation time, but not for sick time. Because PTO policies do not distinguish between the two, you may have to pay for all of the PTO time the employee has accumulated but not used.

Do I Need a Written Policy?

A written PTO policy is important for avoiding misunderstandings. Your PTO document should clearly explain exactly how your PTO program works, how employees can accumulate, use and schedule their time off and what happens if employees miss work after exhausting their PTO days.

The document should be well-formatted, professionally presented and signed by the employee and a representative of your company. Portable Document Format documents can be a useful medium for presenting PTO policies, but if you need to send large PDF documents to remote employees, the file size may be problematic. Using a PDF compressor tool can help you reduce the file size without losing the formatting of the document or degrading the quality of the images.

Who Can Help Me Create a PTO Policy?

If you are just getting started with your first employee, you probably do not have a dedicated HR department to help you. Consider hiring a business consultant. Online job platforms are a good place to search for potential candidates. The average marketing consultant hourly rate is between $28 and $98 per hour, depending on the experience level of the consultant. Make sure you read reviews and consider the price versus the services being offered and the promised delivery time.

Paid time off programs have both advantages and disadvantages when compared to traditional leave programs. When choosing what type of program to offer, consider which programs fit the best with your company culture and resources.

November 17, 2021
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How to Find and Hire the Right People With Your Business’s Success in Mind

By | Business, Industry

Running a successful business truly requires having the right workspace. If you run your business remotely, consider setting up shop at Business E Suites. We offer move-in-ready office space, as well as private and co-working spaces. Check us out today!

[Image Source: Pexels]

Hiring the right people at the perfect time has a significant impact on whether your business can make it in the long haul or not. Still, many business owners don’t have much experience in the process. To be successful in the long term, particularly if your venture is growing, your business will eventually need to find and hire people with various skill sets for various roles, including marketing experts and salespersons.

Business E Suites offers some insights as you consider whether to find help.

Strategies to Find and Hire the Right People

Sales and marketing employees will know your products and services inside out and are vital members of your team, playing a crucial role in securing new business, creating strategies, advertising your venture, and supporting existing client relationships. When you have a salesperson or a marketing professional in your team, you can further grow your business. Here’s how you can find them.

When Do You Need Outside Talent?

When the amount of work you do is overwhelming, it’s time to delegate some of these tasks to an expert. If you’re also planning to open a new shop or office, are developing a broader plan with specific goals, or are turning down clients because of the many projects you’re already working on, consider getting help by hiring an employee.

Create Compelling Job Descriptions

Writing a thorough job description that attracts attention is an essential part of the hiring process. The more compelling a posting’s title is, the more efficient you will be in stirring the interest of the most qualified people. Then, open the description with a captivating summary, keep it concise, and include the salient details of the job, like core responsibilities, soft and hard skills needed, daily activities, and more.

Where to Look

Social media can be a fantastic recruiting tool, allowing you to share job postings within your network and encouraging a two-way conversation. Online job platforms are even better places to look for manpower, as are freelance websites. A recruiting agency can also be a great resource, especially when you’re recruiting for a more specialized industry.

Spot Your Next Hire

There are a few attributes that distinguish great salespeople, including an achievement-focused personality and verbal acuity. A good marketing person is a strategic thinker and a visionary and is business-driven. Scour resumes and cover letters for evidence of these qualities, then look for other attributes that complement your team.

Narrow down your candidate pool by checking their reviews, recommendations, delivery time, and price to ensure they fit your work environment. After you’ve identified the person you want to hire, make an offer, and in it, specify the employment type you’ll provide. For instance, it’s common for remote workers and freelancers to be hired as independent contractors, and that configuration is highly recommended if you consider international remote hires or freelancers.

Survey the Home Team

Hiring and training new staff is quite an undertaking, and it can take some time to get your new hires up to speed. With that in mind, don’t overlook the talents of your existing employees. If you have people on your team who have the interest, ability and drive but lack knowledge and skills, it may be more cost-effective in the long run to help them expand their skill set through a degree or certification program. This can also be a great incentive for current employees, especially if you opt to cover tuition rates. Best of all, if you go with an online university, this gives your employees the chance to study and learn at their own pace, so their work obligations aren’t left faltering.

The Bottom Line

When it comes to finding, courting, and hiring great, skilled, and talented people, you need to be persistent and think outside the box. By using these strategies, you can quickly identify highly qualified and passionate experts ready to join your team.

 

 

November 2, 2021
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5 Time-Saving Apps Every Small Business Owner or Entrepreneur Should Use

By | Business, Tips

Business E Suites provides productive office space and workspace to establish your business in a professional environment. Reach out to us today to find out more! 281-862-3150

Image Source: Unsplash

Starting and building a business is not easy, but most of the time, technology can help make things possible. Today, there are more than three million apps in the app store, making finding practical and helpful applications extremely difficult, especially for entrepreneurs who tend to work long hours and don’t have much time to lose. Business E Suites shares a list of the top five apps entrepreneurs and business owners can use to simplify their lives, have more free time, and work more efficiently.

On-the-Go Handlings

Evernote is a powerful and valuable app for on-the-go note-taking, idea-sharing, and organization for any modern entrepreneur. Whether you’re handling your to-do list, saving a webpage, or planning a trip, this app is user-friendly and syncs across all your devices, including your company’s desktop. You can also verbally dictate notes, bookmark, and save photos to keep your devices organized and the folders easy to access.

Communication at Its Easiest

Even though it’s an easy and convenient way to communicate with your staff and customers, email can take up massive amounts of time, especially if several people at your company have access to a business-wide inbox. Front is a multi-channel inbox that stores email accounts and, optionally, social media accounts. In addition, the app allows you to also access private and shared emails in the same place, saving you from opening and looking at a few interfaces simultaneously or logging into several different websites.

And when it comes to communicating to your customer base via social media, posting and tracking Instagram stories is simplified and streamlined by using Adobe’s Instagram story template library. This tool makes quick work of a story design that the world will see, graphically appealing and tailored to your unique brand and message. You can upload your own images or use the rich stock photography and graphics for inspiration and use for free.

Payroll and Profit Tracking

Payroll and accounting software like Gusto and QuickBooks offer numerous tools to make running a business easier, including features that help you streamline team management, handle payroll, and get real-time insights into your business’s profitability and expenses. With this software, you’ll be able to easily view available resources and billable hours, along with customizing invoices and tracking revenue streams and trends.

What’s better, the software also has a mobile app so you run your business on the go. Even with an accountant, investing in this software can help reduce the time it takes for you to collect W-4s, calculate and withhold income taxes, and pay taxes for your staff.

Tracking Business Expenses

Unless your company is accounting or finance-related, you probably have a hard time keeping track of your business receipts and expenses. Expensify is an excellent timesaving application for this – it takes most of the hurdle out of the way by allowing you to snap a picture of a receipt and then upload it to your account. The tool fills in the expense details, places the receipt next to the associated credit card account, and shares the data with your accounting program.

Social Media Management

Lyfe Marketing notes that social media has quickly become one of the most crucial tools small business owners and entrepreneurs use to promote their ventures. The only issue is, managing social media across several platforms can become time-consuming and exhausting. This is where Hootsuite comes to help.

​The app allows you to handle your LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, and other accounts through one dashboard. Hootsuite enables you to schedule and manage posts, tweets, and messages via the interface – it’s like having a professional social media manager working at all times. The tool also provides you with basic reporting abilities for free, with complex reports offered in exchange for a small sum.

The Bottom Line

Technology now helps small businesses and entrepreneurs maximize their time so they can be more productive and efficient. From handling their notes on the go to managing the payroll system and tracking business expenses, there are numerous ways to leverage small business technology.

 

 

October 26, 2021
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The Rise Of Productivity As A Service In The Coworking Model

By | Business, Industry

Photo Credit: Getty 

In 2020, it briefly seemed like the stunning rise of coworking spaces would come to a crashing halt. Now, however, new coworking spaces and other shared office models are cropping up in every m Beyond Coworking: Physical Spaces Designed For Productivity

Before the pandemic, the noisy, close quarters and social energy of coworking spaces was an asset for some; for others, a drawback. 

To justify the overhead of a managed flexible office space, companies must ensure that a new space solves the pain points of WFH. Many coworking spaces, even with reduced capacity, still have the disruptions that professionals are seeking peace from.

For this reason, we may start to see coworking evolve from chatty social hubs to productivity destinations. The layout of this new type of coworking space might include:

• Private offices.

• Sound-masking technology and closed doors.

• Designated collaboration rooms to keep noise levels at a minimum.

The Burden Of Office Management

Throughout the pandemic, remote workers have acted as building managers of their own offices, securing office supplies, IT infrastructure and room bookings all on their own. Doing that takes a lot of time out of their day, and context switching hinders productivity. 

Another key advantage of choosing a coworking space, as opposed to a normal office lease, is that employees no longer have to handle the logistics of office life themselves. Shared office spaces can distinguish their offerings with amenities that teams can’t get at home, including:

• Front-desk service.

• Mail and shipping service.

• Onsite IT support.

• Access to a notary public.

The service component of coworking and other shared office spaces may be especially desirable to small companies that don’t have robust HR departments. This way, coming into the office means having to worry about nothing but the work that matters.

Plus, a dedicated office manager can regulate all of the other components of a work environment that are critical to productivity, like ventilation, lighting and air quality.

Professionals Need More Than A Desk And A Chair

As the commercial real estate industry keeps a close watch on the return-to-office debate, investors should stay tuned to “productivity as a service”: offices that make productivity a primary selling point, not just space or location.

Coworking spaces are likely here to stay, but the ones that will stand the test of time will be those that understand the needs of the modern worker. That is, an office where professionals have all their digital, privacy and logistical needs taken care of, so they can actually focus on their work.

major city. Demand is on the rise again as many professionals itch to get back to the office — just not the office they went to before the start of this pandemic. 

To provide value to professionals who have the flexibility to work from wherever they please, offices must have what most homes lack: quiet, privacy and amenities that support focused work. For many, the shoulder-to-shoulder environment of old coworking spaces won’t cut it anymore.

Here’s a look at what the new “productivity as a service” paradigm means for commercial real estate.

Employees May Be Productive At Home, But Their Work Environments Are Taking A Toll

By many accounts, workers became more productive while working from home. The National Bureau of Economic Research estimates an overall 5% productivity lift in the U.S. economy from remote work, especially among knowledge workers who enjoyed less time in meetings at home and more time on the tasks that matter.

So why return to the office at all? 

One central challenge of working from home is disruption, whether from child care responsibilities or faulty internet connections. Even if professionals are able to get their work done at home, they may not be doing so in an environment that’s consistent and sustainable. Even worse, it may be taking a toll on their long-term health and well-being.

Company decision-makers don’t want to sacrifice the productivity their teams have found at home entirely, but they still want to provide a secure work environment for those employees who don’t have one at home.

October 26, 2021
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3.0: Hybrid office model becomes the new normal

By | Business, Industry

It is no longer about where employees are working, but about how they are working

RAMESH NAIR

The future workplace will not be binary. It will be a mixture of several workplace formats, with co-working riding growth in the new normal.

In the pre-pandemic era, if a certain A company was looking for a co-working space, the options were cookie-cutter workstations, with 50-60 sq. ft. of average space per desk. Now, imagine the same company A is exploring a hybrid space across locations. It can utilize the services of a co-working operator to find the perfect space in preferred locations and customize the workplace as per its needs. It is no longer about where employees are working, but about how they are working.

Co-working space grew strongly during 2017-2019 with its stock growing by 2.3 times in 2019 as compared to 2017. The share of co-working space in total leasing volume also rose from 6% in 2017 to 20% in 2019. However, during 2020, this pace of growth experienced a setback. Across the top operators’ portfolios, the median occupancy level was around 65% during 2020. Occupiers closed unprofitable centers and postponed and even cancelled some new leases.

Now, we are entering co-working 3.0. Mandates with occupiers will be the way to go, and speculative buildings are a thing of the past.

Operators will also look at newer business models ranging from management agreements, hybrid models (fixed plus revenue share) to franchise models.

Choice-based models to emerge

Many Fortune 500 companies are betting on expanding through co-working spaces. During H1 2021, IT-BPM drove the bulk of transactions with a 57% share in total leasing in co-working centers.

Why should larger enterprises look at co-working?

1. Greater flexibility in leasing2. Outsourcing of space delivery and management to a third-party

3. Capital-light deal structures

As a hybrid model of working takes shape, occupiers are looking at decentralized teams, work from (near) home, and the hub and spoke model. Co-working spaces will fill this gap and offer convenience to employees while offering a collaborative workspace. It will provide a tech-enabled, customized experiential workplace to enhance productivity and wellness.

Over the next few years, most landlords will have a co-working share in their portfolio. However, they will look to partner with operators with experience in operations and management.

Occupier experience is key

Occupier experience has become of utmost importance in this competitive environment. User experience will determine brand loyalty in this highly competitive segment. The inclusion of digital infrastructure and smart facilities will increase operational efficiency and overall asset value. Moreover, providing facilities related to health and wellness will retain occupier interest.

Operators are also coming up with innovative solutions such as single-day work passes, global location access and virtual offices. Some of the co-working space operators are also partnering with educational institutions and service companies to organize skill development and knowledge sharing programs for their occupiers.

Co-working mushrooming in Tier 2 – 3 cities

Initially, the growth of co-working spaces was limited to the top 6 cities. However, post-pandemic, operators are expanding into tier-II cities. Now we are seeing large enterprises setting up satellite and sales offices in smaller cities. Moreover, hyper-local delivery players are taking up small office spaces in multiple locations as they are expanding in smaller cities. We expect this trend to continue and demand from e-commerce and fintech to rise in the next two years. Many of these existing centres are currently operating at more than 70% occupancy levels.

Overall, the utilization of co-working is imminent for growth and brand differentiation. The latter half of 2021 is already seeing a change in the way co-working companies operate. As our workplaces undergo a change, co-working too will evolve and offer more value to users.

July 21, 2021
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Blog

Texas Ranked As The Best State To Start A Small Business

By | Industry

Texas is the best U.S. state to start a small business in 2021, accounting for key factors such as business environment, access to resources and business costs, according to a new study from WalletHub.

The Lone Star State ranked second overall for its business environment, only behind Georgia. Several metrics were taken into account, including growth in the number of small businesses, entrepreneurship, job growth and average length of the workweek.

When it came to access to resources, Texas ranked 12th, reflecting metrics such as financing accessibility, human capital availability, higher education assets and the share of college-educated population.

Texas’ business costs were a little less favorable, placing the state in 32nd place. That ranking was based on key metrics like office space affordability, labor costs, corporate taxes, spending on incentives as a share of gross domestic product and the cost of living.

Following Texas in the top spot were Georgia, California and Florida, ranked in second, third and fourth place, respectively. In contrast, New Jersey was ranked as the least ideal place to start a business in in 2021.

Less stringent lockdown policies and lower costs bolstered Texas’ reputation as a business-friendly environment during the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, the state has seen an acceleration in the number of corporate relocations, fueled by unhappy business owners leaving more expensive and regulated states like California, New York and New Jersey.

In addition, the state’s reopening at 100% capacity in March, as well as the removal of a face covering mandate, have worked in tandem with the vaccine rollout to boost hotel bookings and retail activity across Houston. Office occupancy is also on the rise, and brokers say that inquiries and deal-making are ramping up, as businesses are making decisions again.

A total of 28 companies completed a corporate relocation to Texas in 2020, according to YTexas, a business network that assists companies who are looking to expand or relocate to Texas. As of July, 37 companies had already chosen to relocate in 2021, surpassing any other year on record.

Contact Christie Moffat at christie.moffat@bisnow.com

June 22, 2021
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Sugar Land

Sugar Land ranks as most business-savvy city in the country

By | Other

National study by Verizon names the Houston suburb as “the heart of the American entrepreneurial spirit,” according to city press release. (Claire Shoop/Community Impact Newspaper)

By Savannah Kuchar | | Updated 

In a recent study by Verizon, Sugar Land was named the No. 1 most business-ready city in the nation. The ranking was based in part on the city’s mean household income of $157,923 and three percent unemployment rate.

Other factors used to determine “The 15 Most Ambitious U.S. Cities” included the number of residents with a bachelor’s degree or higher, number of business applications, percent of population that starts a new business and home ownership.

Director of Economic Development Elizabeth Huff said in a press release the city was excited for this national recognition.

“It’s proof that our proactive efforts ensure a strong economy, support quality services for our residents and allow our city to maintain the second-lowest tax rate in the state among cities of similar size,” Huff said.

A city press release attributed their success in part to recent initiatives that invest in the city economy, such as Sweet Cash, a gift card purchasing program to support local businesses.

Frisco was the only other Texas city named by the study, and over half of those on the list were in California. Sugar Land also came out above the cities of Scottsdale, Arizona; Coral Springs, Florida; Pembroke Pines, Florida; Columbia, Missouri; and Miami Gardens, Florida.
June 1, 2021
1
T

Featured Member – Roy Huddle

By | Business

Roy Huddle is our resident lawyer (and ping-pong enthusiast!) here at Business E Suites in Sugarland. Roy got his law degree from the University of Houston, and he might be the ONLY Family Law Attorney you will ever meet who is Pro-Marriage!

Before starting his practice, Roy dabbled as a real estate broker and worked on mortgage lending law. Anyone who knows Roy can tell you that those things were not his true passion. Roy lives to serve others, and although he can do that through any profession, family law is where he feels like he can truly use his strengths to impact people’s lives positively.

The way Roy works with his clients is fundamentally different than most family law attorneys. Roy is openly Christian, Pro-Marriage, and wants to help his clients heal their families and avoid divorces. This is what caused Roy to break off and start his own practice, to pursue what he feels is the right way to do things. When I asked Roy the most rewarding and most challenging times in his journey as an entrepreneur, both answers stemmed from this one big decision.

It was challenging because perhaps he made a move too quickly. Roy hadn’t learned all of the basic fundamental skills and in’s and out’s of family law. Even though he wanted to do things his own way, he could have benefitted from a little bit more time learning and absorbing the knowledge of other more experienced professionals.

In the end, though, it has been an enriching experience as Roy has helped multiple families stay together and grow and improve. It is something he might not have ever gotten to experience if he had stayed with his old job and followed the status quo. Having a job that aligns with your values and lets you positively impact the world is one of the most fulfilling things we can do.

Roy joined us at Business E Suites because he loved the sense of community in the office. It fits the type of environment of love and support that he wants to create within his own business. Also, as a lawyer, Roy needs to work long hours and sometimes late at night. Many other places did not offer the 24/7 access that he needed to get his work done correctly.

One piece of advice that Roy has for other business owners starting out: have a vision and pursue your ideals, but make sure to spend some time learning the industry before taking the leap on your own. He encourages everyone to try and find a mentor that can guide them on their journey.

We love having Roy here at Business E Suites, and we hope to continue building our vibrant community with more members like him.

June 1, 2021
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Should you consider co-working spaces? And who should pay?

By | Industry

By

DÉJÀ LEONARD
SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL
PUBLISHED MAY 30, 2021

Déjà Leonard is a copywriter and freelance journalist based in Calgary.

HANDOUT

This is the weekly Careers newsletter. If you’re reading this on the web or someone forwarded this e-mail newsletter to you, you can sign up for Globe Careers and all Globe newsletters here.

Déjà Leonard is a copywriter and freelance journalist based in Calgary.

As we begin to return to some semblance of normalcy – and the office – many companies and employees are wading through the murky waters of what “return to work” really looks like. Will employees be allowed to work from home full-time? Will they be expected to come back into the office? But there’s other questions gaining traction: Can employees work in a co-working space – and will companies pay for it?

STORY

Some companies such as JPMorgan Chase already have a solid set of rules, where specific teams can schedule work-from-home days from Tuesday through Thursday. Technology company Sabre Corp., which is headquartered in Texas, has significantly reduced its campus space and plans to bring about 25 per cent of employees back on site at least three days a week.

However, others, including Calendly, an Atlanta-based manufacturer of scheduling software, are giving their people the option of whether to come into the office, and are providing staff with memberships to co-working spaces – a trend that seems to be the perfect fit for employees who don’t want to work from home, but also don’t want to endure the dreaded, often time-consuming commute to the office.

It makes a lot of sense. While working from home holds immense appeal for many, it can also be distracting and more difficult to create healthy boundaries between work life and home life.

As chief executive officers try to weigh what they think is best for the business against what employees are demanding, it’s creating a new type of tension. And in some cases, employers will need to bend, or they’ll lose out on top-level talent.

According to a recent survey from insurance company Prudential, 42 per cent of current U.S. remote workers say that they would leave their job if their company did not continue to offer remote work options, signalling a potential war for talent.

At the same time, popular co-working spaces such as WeWork are preparing for a surge in interest as COVID-19 subsides.

Rebecca Pan, co-owner of the San Francisco co-working space Trellis, had this to say about the rise in demand: “Before the pandemic, it was that you were in the office full-time. I don’t think this will be the same in the future. People really appreciate flexibility. From a co-working point of view, fewer people go to a corporate campus, but [instead go] home or [to] Trellis.”

Should employers pay for it? Why not. On top of attracting a wider range of quality talent, co-working spaces save companies money by reducing the need for office space and common employee amenities. Plus, employees with access to co-working spaces are performing better than those without it, a U.S. workplace survey suggests.

At the same time, it seems that even if firms won’t pay, the majority of employees are more than willing to cover the cost of co-working spaces themselves if it means they can have more flexibility. A report by WeWork and independent research firm Workplace Intelligence indicates that 64 per cent of American employees are willing to pay out of their own pocket for access to office space to support hybrid work.

So, as we move closer toward “return to work,” we’ll likely see the conversation broaden to include the possibility of co-working as more employers balance the needs of the business and all of their employees with diverse needs.