On Christmas Eve 2019 we said people would soon stop working from home; a pandemic proved us wrong within three months, yet coworking kept growing, as the third place of hybrid work.
On 24 December 2019 we published nine reasons why coworking spaces are great for your professional growth. One of those reasons was a prediction, and it is the part that has aged worst:
"In the upcoming few years you won't be seeing people working in their home offices, in fact, they will shift to coworking spaces."
Within about three months, COVID sent work home on a scale nobody had planned for. So let's be honest about what we got wrong, what we got right, and what the "professional growth" argument looks like in 2026.
What we got wrong: the home office did not go away
The home office did not shrink. It became the default for millions of people, and a lot of it stuck. In the US, working from home accounted for about 26% of paid workdays in 2025, against 7% in 2019 (WFH Research).
We also overstated things in a few other places. We wrote that "without a coworking space, you won't be able to" focus. That was never true. Plenty of people focus perfectly well at home, and plenty of people find a busy shared space distracting. The original post treated the home office as a problem to escape. For many people it turned out to be a perfectly good place to work, at least some of the week.
What we got right: coworking grew anyway
Here is the surprise. Coworking did not lose because home working won. It kept growing alongside it. Allwork.Space, repeating industry estimates, puts the industry at about 42,000 spaces and 5.5 to 6 million users, and expects about 44,000 spaces by 2026 (Allwork.Space).
The difference is the role it plays. Coworking did not replace the home office. In our view it became the "third place" of hybrid work: somewhere that is neither home nor the company headquarters. The flexible office group IWG has described growth in suburbs, small towns and rural areas as people "work locally" instead of commuting into city centres (IWG, 2023).
So the honest version of our 2019 headline is this: coworking is good for your growth, but not because home working is bad. It is good because it gives you things that home alone does not.
The professional growth case, rewritten for a hybrid week
Of the nine reasons in the original, a few still hold up well. Here they are again, with the overselling taken out. These are practical suggestions from our own experience, not research findings.
1. Your network still needs people in a room
This was the strongest point in 2019 and it still is. If you work from home most of the week, you are not bumping into anyone. A shared space puts you near people in other businesses, with other problems and other skills. That is where a lot of advice, referrals and new work quietly comes from.
Try this: pick the days you spend in a shared space for the people, not just the desk. Go when the community events or busy days are, and talk to someone you don't know.
2. Community helps you learn faster
We said you get more ideas when more people can brainstorm on your project. That is still fair. Working alone, it is easy to get stuck on something a neighbour could have solved in five minutes.
Try this: treat your coworking days as learning days. Ask one question, offer one bit of help, and you will get more out of the space than any amenity list.
3. Flexibility, without the old either-or
In 2019 we framed flexibility as a reason to leave home. In a hybrid world it means something better: you don't have to choose. A few days at home for deep work, a day or two in a shared space for people and meetings. A small team can grow or shrink without signing a long office lease.
4. A boundary between work and home
We wrote that you can't keep your family happy and grow professionally without leaving the house. That was too strong. But a clear line between work and home helps many people, and a short trip to a desk somewhere else is one easy way to draw it.
5. Lower costs, if you use it well
Sharing a space is still cheaper than renting a whole office, especially early on. Just pay for the amount you actually use. Part-time and day access fit a hybrid week much better than a full-time desk you visit twice.
What we would drop
Some of the original reasons don't survive a second look:
- "Be ready for the future." The future we described did not arrive. Working from home is part of the future, not a thing it leaves behind.
- "You get to dress up every day." Discipline is real, but it is not about the clothes, and it is not only possible in an office.
- "Within the first week, you'll feel the difference." Maybe. Or maybe home suits you better for most of your work. Try it and see.
The honest scorecard
- "You won't be seeing people working in their home offices": didn't happen. The opposite did.
- Coworking as a growing option: coworking kept growing.
- The list of benefits: still valid, but more generic and more overstated than we would write it today.
The short version: coworking is not where you go to escape your home office. It is where you go to meet the people your home office can't introduce you to. For professional growth, that has always been the point.
Written 3 November 2026 from the research behind the archive's 2026 updates (checked 30 September, re-verified 3 November 2026). Sources are linked in the text.