'Still a need for the office': WeWork to share future plans at AFR's 2020 Property Summit

“[COVID-19] has obviously, undoubtedly, had an impact on every company. And what we see from that is that flexibility actually becomes the most valuable currency as companies throughout the world start to rethink their workplace needs,” Mr Tol said.

WeWork is targeting “enterprise” customers – large firms with more than 500 employees who would traditionally lease out entire floors of space – as a key source of demand for new desk space.

Globally, enterprise accounted for more than 50 per cent of WeWork’s core revenue for the first time in the three months to June 2020, having grown 15 times in the past three years.

“We see that there’s two types of conversations going on at the moment [among these customers]. While remote working will complement workplace strategies, it will not entirely replace them. So there’s still a place, a need for the office. But the role of the office is probably changing and a lot of people are having the conversation and I think that’s exciting for us.”

Mr Tol is a keynote speaker at the 2020 Financial Review Property Summit, being held at the Hyatt Regency in Sydney on September 22, presented in association with Commercial Real Estate. 

The Australian Financial Review’s second annual Property Summit will bring together the commercial property sector’s most influential leaders, policymakers, investors and disruptors to discuss the future of commercial property throughout the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.

Improving flexibility for Australian firms is set to be the key plank of Mr Tol’s speech, who will announce changes to WeWork’s local membership offering at the summit.

“We’re looking to offer a higher degree of flexibility to our community than we do today, and that’s in pipeline and I’m excited to announced a number of those features at the summit. It’s an increased flexibility for users on how they want to use our space.”

Virtual hub 

WeWork’s offices were closed to the general public but remained open to essential workers throughout the pandemic – and still are, in Melbourne.

Workers were quicker to return in Perth and Brisbane, where lockdown restrictions were lifted sooner, but had started returning in greater numbers to Sydney locations in the past two weeks, according to Mr Tol.

Along with implementing enhanced physical distancing requirements, the company pushed many of its usual social events online in an attempt to “replicate what people are missing most from the office”. Some 400 members attended more than 40 events in the first month of them being offered.

“Our community teams transitioned all of our events – whether it be lunch and learns, business trainings as well as a lot of mental and wellbeing sessions online. It goes even so far that one location [in Sydney] sent wine and cheese boards to all of its members to do a virtual wine tasting,” Mr Tol said.

Sticking with current locations 

Following a high-publicised failed IPO attempt in 2019, WeWork globally had been conducting a strategic review of its portfolio operations.

“We really started this by the end of last year [when] we developed a strategic plan so as part of that plan we continue to conduct an in-depth review of all of our operations and assets globally as well as in Australia,” Mr Tol said.

While the COVID19 pandemic had “added some variables” into this review, it was unlikely to have an impact on the firm’s future office plans locally.

With recent office openings at 123 Eagle Street in Brisbane and 320 Pitt Street in Sydney, WeWork was focusing on the “depth of its offerings”, Mr Tol said.

“We continue to invest in the depth of the cities we’re in … Current expansion into new markets is not the key priority for us at this time.”

Other speakers at the summit will include Kylie Rampa, chief executive property at Lendlease, Jason Pellegrino, chief executive of Domain, and Peter Allen, chief executive of Scentre Group.