NPR

Co-Working Spaces Are Redefining What It Means To Go To The Office

Part of the appeal of spaces like WeWork is flexibility; monthly membership means avoiding the commitment of a long-term lease. But the real value, the firms say, is a more innovative work culture.
People gather around a speaker during a lunchtime seminar at a WeWork co-working space in Washington, D.C. / MANDEL NGAN / Getty Images

Michael Silvers has worked at home and in corporate offices but prefers his small, rented glass-walled shared working space in downtown Washington, D.C.

"Every office that I've worked in, you're kind of down in your own little hole, and you don't really interact as much with other types of businesses," he says.

Not so at his WeWork office, a co-working space that has led to serendipitous meetings for Silvers and his co-founder, who, an app-development firm. They recruited a business partner, another WeWork entrepreneur, and learned a far more efficient way to develop software from other startups there.

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