The growth of freelancing in the Philippines could provide the real estate industry additional demand for flexible office space, especially as the government moves to protect those engaged in the “gig” economy, real estate services and investment managemen, Colliers said.
The investment management firm said if proposed legislation and other measures seeking to protect freelancers do take effect, then it could move many freelancers to at least use flexible office spaces.
The consulting firm said if only 30 percent of the estimated 1.5 million freelancers require office space, then the gig economy will need at least 2.7 million square meters of office space.
“As more individuals enter freelancing and more workers get higher or more complex responsibilities, freelancers may see the benefits of taking space in a flexible workspace solution which could provide them improved office infrastructure and better telco reliability,” said a note from Colliers authored by Cecille dela Pena and Lira Moncada.
Flexible work, or coworking spaces, relate to areas where employees can work in a variety of settings.
They added that the “flexible workspaces can create a community which is conducive to the freelance industry especially since networking and collaboration with other freelancers for potential projects is at their reach.”
