Opening our doors to the workforce of tomorrow.

It all started in Belgium during a hot European summer in 2018, when Europe was undergoing a heatwave. Regional Manager for Belgium and Luxembourg, William Willems, picked up on reports of students struggling to get their cramming done. With exams coming up at the end of the summer they were facing every student’s worst nightmare: full libraries, no AC at home and no other place to study.

Turn the downtime around

Everyone’s who worked at a coworking office from mid-July to mid-August knows things can quiet down pretty fast. In this case, one-and-one was two. Helping the national student community to get down to studying in an air-conditioned space was an easy decision to make and the “co-studying” began.

All Spaces locations in Belgium welcomed students and offered them free access to the Business Clubs, tea and coffee and Wi-Fi. Students simply had to show their student card during business hours to get in and get started.

Aside from offering them much-needed cooler working conditions, the students got to experience the communal aspect of Spaces together with other students and community members.

Keep ‘em coming

Because of the campaign’s success, Spaces and other IWG brands have decided to keep this tradition alive. For the past couple of years, students in Belgium have gotten free access during summer exams, and we’ve added in the winter months as well. As the news spread, we welcomed over 500 students a day across all brands. Reasons for visiting varied from having distracting family members, to saving time to commute to the library, or simply to resist the temptation of video games.

Talent has no age

With the arrival of the co-studying students, it’s proven beneficial for the community as well. Engaging with young, educated talent about to enter the workforce equally creates opportunities for business. The local Spaces has even hired some employees straight out of university.

Another great aspect of the campaign is that students got to experience a different way of working. Those with big business plans are likely to think back on their time at Spaces and might even come back to the community. This campaign introduces a whole new generation of workers to the benefits of flexible working before their careers have even started. When they do, we hope to welcome them back at Spaces.

Want to give coworking at Spaces a shot? Let us know right here and we’ll hook you up with a free trial.