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One of the undercurrents I keep hearing in industry conversations—especially at conferences where the rooms are packed with small and mid-sized coworking operators—is: what are the big players doing?
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I want to break down the moves of the three biggest names in our sector right now. Each is charting a distinctly different path—meaning there’s no “winner-takes-all” moment on the horizon, but instead, a fascinating experiment in what scale really means in the flexible workspace industry.
Let’s get into what the three largest flexible workspace operators in the world are doing: International Workplace Group (IWG), Wework, and Industrious, and what their business models really are.
If there’s a company that dominates the global landscape for flex space, it’s IWG. And following the merger of IWG’s digital assets with the Instant Group —the largest global marketplace for flexible workspace and the company I work for—the company has set sights on a marketplace disruption strategy.
Here’s what this means in practice:
IWG marries the largest, most diverse portfolio of flexible workspace with Instant’s global marketplace platform. The combined company has, the largest sales team in the world dedicated to flex—period. When you add to this the fact that the Group generates three times more demand for flexible workspace than any other platform (operator, marketplace, brokerage, or otherwise), you start to see the shape of something new.
The company is now in the process of integrating both sides of the house. Imagine offering IWG’s unparalleled global demand—not just to IWG locations, but to the broader market as well. This could create new business models, new relationships, and open up flexible workspace in ways we haven’t yet seen.
The takeaway:
This is a classic example of marketplace disruption. Leverage scale, sales, and reach to power a global platform—and offer a lot more operators access to demand.
And then there’s the ongoing WeWork story—rapid (and over) expansion, painful right-sizing, and, recently, a major new investor. Enter: The Yardi family office, now WeWork’s owner.
Here’s what’s changed:
By exiting bad leases and restructuring, WeWork is on its way back to profitability—a point that’s easy to gloss over, but enormously significant for the industry as it moves toward maturity. Even bigger though is what Yardi brings to the table. Yardi, through its extensive technology and real estate relationships (office and multifamily), is now deeply embedded in WeWork’s operations.
The goal? In Yardi’s own words: to create the “Cadillac” of operating systems for the flexible workspace sector. They’ve poured significant resources into Yardi Kube—rolling out best-in-class operating features informed by hands-on experience running the world’s second largest flex brand.
The takeaway:
This is an operations innovation play. Yardi’s leveraging technology and real-world operational knowledge to raise the bar—not just for WeWork, but for any operator ready to plug into their evolving stack. It’s not about being the biggest, but being the smartest (and most automated) operator in the room.
Last up: CBRE and Industrious. Earlier this year, CBRE acquired full ownership of Industrious. CBRE, as you know, is the largest real estate services company in the world, period.
Under CBRE, Industrious has become the flex operator arm of a mammoth services organization. Jamie Hodari, previously CEO of Industrious, now leads a substantial division at CBRE, focused on taking the hospitality-driven Industrious experience and embedding it in trophy office buildings globally.
The real point here is integration—aligning the brand, its proven service model, and CBRE’s landlord/occupier networks to create new value for Class A office assets. The goal? A seamless, branded experience for tenants and landlords alike, delivered through the same service provider that already manages much of the world’s best real estate.
The takeaway:
Service line integration is the name of the game—connecting leading flex space operations and hospitality with the service business landlords already trust. There’s major growth ahead, both for Industrious and for CBRE’s own footprint, and the market is already seeing it.
For operators watching from the outside, understand this:
There’s no one-size-fits-all strategy at the top of the market. You’ve got three enormous players and three very different approaches:
Each one leverages their unique strengths, and each will have different implications for the rest of the industry.
So as you chart your course—whether you’re a local player, a regional up-and-comer, or just curious—keep your eyes not just on what the big guys are doing, but why. Their success (or failure) can give you cues about what to do next.
Thanks for reading I'm Flexible: Trends and Ideas in Flexible Workspace! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
The Flexible Workspace Industry Has Three Large Players With Three Unique Strategies - Ben Wright