As Indonesia marches ahead with its Industry 4.0 digitalization master plan, more non-tech companies are expected to use collaborative spaces to attract and retain young professionals who can expedite digital innovation, thus keeping the companies ahead of the competition.

“Large companies will either reinvent themselves to be more like coworking spaces or work with coworking space providers. Either way, they will have to create an environment that fosters innovation,” said Miguel McKelvey, founder of coworking multinational WeWork.

WeWork’s Indonesian clientele consists of 25 to 35 percent multinationals from varying industries while the remaining 65 to 75 percent mostly comprise freelancers and startups, according to Southeast Asia managing director Turochas “T” Fuad.

Fuad attributed the high percentage of multinationals to his company’s ability to scale services for large corporations by renting out entire floors with custom designs, whereas smaller coworking spaces rent by individual desks.

Felencia Hutabarat, secretary-general of the Coworking Indonesia association, said she was also optimistic over the industry’s growth even though there were still many businesses that hesitated to share space with others.

Such hesitancy is usually rooted in concerns over data security and business privacy, according to a 2016 report by market research firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).

“It will be those companies that embrace internet technology, which would enable more of their employees to work remotely, that will be among the main drivers of the coworking business,” said Felencia.

JLL noted in a separate report that Southeast Asian “flexible spaces” — both coworking and serviced offices — grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40 percent in 2015-2018, which is higher than the Asia Pacific average of 35.7 percent.

Coworking Indonesia, meanwhile, estimated that the amount of domestic coworking spaces alone grew at least 25 percent from 200 locations in June last year to over 250 locations as of this month.

Aside from letting employees work in such spaces, some non-tech companies have also begun to invest in their own in-house collaborative spaces.

Bank Mandiri, for example, began three years ago to loosen employee uniform guidelines and open up office spaces to make workspaces “as egalitarian as can be” and “urge more open communication”, according to compliance director Agus Dwi Handaya.

However, a 2016 report by Cushman & Wakefield, another market research firm, suggests that such financial institutions also need the openness to foster innovation with financial technology (fintech) and, thus, minimize disruption in the banking industry.

In line with the report, Bank Mandiri announced this year its involvement with e-wallet LinkAja, accounting software startup Harmoni and wealth management startup Finansialku.

Media company Tempo, which aims to make a full transition to online media by 2020, is another non-tech company that is embracing collaborative workspaces to attract necessary innovation.

The company’s 2017 annual report says that it not only offers the eighth floor of its new open-space office building as a coworking space for startups, but is also “available to work with startups interested in the media business”.

Despite the popularization of private open spaces, Felencia remained confident about the future growth of coworking spaces, saying that such spaces offered the added value of a community manager to facilitate communication between businesses.

The communication, she continued, could translate to new business connections or new learning, which is necessary to support new businesses in Indonesia.

Popular

Gerindra politician says bigger cabinet would benefit Indonesia

Asia shares rise on rate cut bets; RBA seen turning hawkish

PDI-P considering Anies, Ahok as Jakarta gubernatorial candidates