KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 7): Space-as-a-service platform WeWork said it had tracked growth in Malaysia as its members increased by close to 15% from March to July 2020.

In a statement today, the firm said WeWork Malaysia had tracked a growth of more than 30% in enterprise members across sectors such as oil and gas (O&G), financial services, marketing and advertising, government and technology.

It said these enterprises include the likes of Petronas New Energy, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), StashAway, Panduit, Respond.io and Trapo, among others.

WeWork said the enterprise segment had been a growth driver of the firm.

It said with Malaysia in the recovery movement control order (RMCO) phase, more companies are evaluating their workspace commitment and leaning towards co-working spaces in favour of more flexible, cost-efficient and scalable solutions as they look to recover and advance from the pandemic’s impact.

WeWork head of growth for Southeast Asia and Korea Ray Tan said Covid-19 had highlighted greater emphasis on addressing new workspace realities.

"We are seeing companies recalibrating their traditional real estate portfolio based on their operational needs.

“This is where we are able to empower them with hybrid flexible workspace arrangements from a hub-and-spoke model to a phased workforce approach.

“As we enhance our spaces and services, we remain committed, as a workspace partner, to helping tackle potential opportunities and challenges ahead,” he said.

He said that in Kuala Lumpur, its WeWork Mercu 2 location had seen a rapid growth in enterprise members since its opening at end-2019.

Meanwhile, the WeWork Equatorial Plaza location continues to be key support for companies in essential sectors such as O&G, financial services and more with the ability to connect with WeWork’s community ecosystem, said Tan.

WeWork said that overall, 20% of Malaysian organisations had adopted co-working (compared with the 17% average across Southeast Asia), while 53% had plans to do so in the next one to three years.

It said companies making the transition had moved their innovation, sales and marketing departments, to name a few, into co-working spaces and had seen success in the collaborative environment.