[Aeolun]

Their dedicated office space is just absurdly expensive. I'd pay $2000/month for a 10sqm office when I can get a 20sqm office from the market for $1000/month. Of course the locations are not equivalent, but it's just not really relevant for those of us working remote anyway.

[hn_throwaway_99]

It's exactly this. Our company got a great, large dedicated office space during the peak of Covid for a pretty great deal. Note at the time it was still one of the most expensive options, but the location, amenities and quality of the office space made it worth it.

When it came time to renew they tried to more than double the rent. We then downsized to a space less than a fourth the original space - just a couple desks and a small meeting room. That worked out great - most employees are now firmly remote anyway, but we have a good space, and anyone can use our block of credits, so if we need to have a bunch of folks onsight for an in-person meeting we just book a large meeting room and it works great.

I think WeWork was horribly mismanaged by Neumann, but I still think they'd be in giant doodoo even if they had great management. The pandemic really fundamentally changed work patterns forever.

[smileysteve]

But $1000 a month seems cheap compared to an office manager?

That is, a dedicated employee for receiving, kitchen stocking, security management, and even utility management (how many novice office managers try cable Internet before buying fiber)

[Terretta]

Yes, and an office manager that doesn't have to be told what to do about anything, who actually manages workplace facilities, equipment, and operations fully autonomously, is likely to run between $5K and $10K a month, at least (more if salaried with benefits).

[Aeolun]

> But $1000 a month seems cheap compared to an office manager?

Only if you use $1000 worth of office manager every month.