on Apr 29, 2019
Understanding the Global Economic Impact of WeWork
WeWork is leading the way people work in cities.
Since its founding in 2010, WeWork has revolutionized the way people work and created a community of over 400,000 members in 100 cities across 27 countries. In 2018, HR&A evaluated the impact of WeWork on members, neighborhoods, and cities by assessing the company’s economic impact in three major U.S. cities: New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. This year, HR&A expanded this evaluation to all WeWork locations across the world to understand WeWork’s impact at a global scale.
Building on the methodologies we developed to assess WeWork’s economic impact, we created an automated process for WeWork to measure their impact across all their members and locations globally. This automated analysis relies on a range of dynamic data sources to capture and contextualize the way WeWork is impacting how people work, businesses grow, cities develop and economies thrive from Shanghai to San Diego to São Paulo. With this new tool, WeWork can understand their impact at the global, regional, neighborhood and member scale.
Among our favorite findings from the study, we found that:
Source: WeWork, HR&A Analysis
See all the study’s findings on WeWork’s website.
WeWork’s significant global impact reveals a striking convergence in the trends changing cities and workers in the 21st century. This change has many implications for how cities plan for the future, including preparing, growing, and nurturing the workforce of tomorrow. How can cities attract and retain entrepreneurs? How can public institutions and civic organizations partner with WeWork and other innovators to level the playing field for the next generation of talent?
We are excited to help cities and innovators like WeWork shape the future of cities. By bringing together public and private resources, we can build a future of work that is better for every city and every worker.
Interested in learning about the future of work and how your city or company can prepare? Reach out to Kate Wittels, the leader of HR&A’s urban tech practice.