How have Wojo spaces coped with this period of confinement?
Stéphane Bensimon - Our sites remained accessible during the lockdown, but without reception or catering services. However, very few people used our facilities, or just popped in to collect their belongings. That's all in the past, since Monday we have reopened all our servicesOur bar and restaurant areas, however, are still limited to takeaways. The coworking spaces have been redesigned to leave more space between workstations. What's more, while we can't hold conferences and events as we used to, we can now accommodate two or three coworkers in reconfigured 10-person meeting rooms.
What measures have you put in place to prepare for the reopening?
S. B. - We have obviously put in place a whole range of sanitary arrangements, including floor markings to ensure social distancing. We've even gone a step further for the first week by providing companies that are returning and haven't had time to look around with a "starter" kit containing free masksIn addition, we have enough stock to be able to offer these kits at cost price. Beyond that, we have enough stock to be able to offer these kits at cost price to make life easier for companies, so they don't have to look for masks on the right or gel on the left. In addition, we are increasing the level of cleaning.
Like other players, are you also working on labelling your sites?
S. B. - We know how much health is an important factor these days. There is so much anxiety linked to what we have been going through over the last few weeks that knowing that an independent body is validating the measures taken is a great reassurance for our customers and their employees. For this reason, we have enlisted the services of SOCOTEC, experts in hygiene, to obtain the Safe & Healthy Workplace" label for our establishments. This certification is currently being validated. Those who want to come back are reassured by what we have put in place. But for the moment, traffic is very low.
So the recovery is still tentative.
S. B. - Yes, everyone is a bit reserved and teleworking remains the normas recommended by the government. More than the offices themselves, it is the transport which I think are the most frightening things today. As a result, I think that in the short term, until September, or even until the end of the year, teleworking will predominate.
In the longer term, the signs are green for the coworking model.
Do you think the current crisis will radically change working habits?
S. B. - Major upheavals have always generated new behaviours and new opportunities. I'm going to be very modest about this, because it's always a bit tricky to ride the wave of such a crisis. In the longer term, the lights are green for the coworking model. We are extremely confident. More and more companies are expected to make major changes to their working environment and the way they welcome their employees. We have moved very quickly from "work from office" to "work from home", and we may well move on to "work from anywhere". In other words, we will still be working in the office, because employees need to be together at some point, but perhaps in smaller numbers and on a rotating basis.
So has teleworking become a way of life?
S. B. - Managers noticed that teleworking was possible without affecting employee performance, but also that there were limits. And this is where all our interest. Instead of a 3-6-9 long-term lease with 50 employeesFor example, a company can take on 30 workstations with us, with some of their staff teleworking or going to work in another part of our network. The way we work is going to change. It will take some time, because old reflexes will come back. But I think that between the desire for well-being in the workplace and the flexibility of our offer, coworking makes a lot of sense today.
What impact have economic difficulties had on your business?
S. B. - I'm not saying that there hasn't been an impact, if only for meeting rooms, but overall, and fortunately, there have been very few cancellations. They mainly concerned customers who had already planned to leave, or sectors that had been hard hit by the crisis, such as events companies. But most of our customers have stayed with us. We welcome many start-ups and SMEs which are a little less affected than others. We have helped our members on a case-by-case basis, in particular with commercial gestures. A small number of companies have also suspended their subscriptions, but will be resuming them in a few months' time. For them, this is a clear economic gain. The flexibility we offer means they can have 10 people today, six tomorrow because they need to tighten their belts, and perhaps 12 the day after tomorrow. We know how to do that, unlike traditional leases.
What's the current status of your Wojo Spots and Wojo Corners offers in Accor hotels?
S. B. - Companies were already taking an interest before the crisis, thinking that their employees could go to work rather than commute for an hour after an appointment. an hour or two in an Accor hotel with the assurance of a quality service and welcome, and good WiFi. Once the hotels reopen, things are going to take a completely different turn, particularly in terms of meeting health needs and limiting transport. We are working with our partner-shareholder to strengthen this lever. The fact of being able to work close to home or to one's place of appointment, the fact of being reassured by the sanitary guarantees for brand-name hotels will come into its own over the coming weeks. We can even invent new approaches and go further in terms of the range of services offered to workers in hotels. For example, as meeting rooms are less used, why not offer companies the chance to use them as office spaces, with workstations spaced further apart? The same goes for rooms, which could easily become individual offices. We're working on several avenues. We're lucky to be able to combine the excellence of the working world with Wojo and the expertise of a leading hotel company.
Despite these troubled times, are there any new developments planned?
S. B. - We're opening our first establishment outside France in Barcelona in September. Then it's on to Lille, a new destination for us after Lyon and Paris. At the end of 2020, early 2021, we will open an 8,000 m² space on rue de Tolbiac in the 13th arrondissement, a major project with terraces and gardens. Our biggest space, Wojo Montparnasse, is also due to open in 2021. We're continuing to expand. Everything tells us that things are going to pick up again, and that It's about to get even betterfor the reasons I've given. Coworking was born after the 2008 crisis. I hope that, in the post-crisis era, the demand for savings, flexibility and well-being at work will drive even more companies and freelancers to find solutions like ours.
