MULTINATIONAL office solutions firm International Working Group plc (IWG) plans to open 17 new coworking spaces in the Philippines next year, according to its founder.

“The need for high-quality flexible workspaces continues to soar as hybrid working becomes the new normal,” Mark Leslie James Dixon, founder and chief executive officer of IWG, said in a statement on Wednesday.

“We are therefore pleased to announce the opening of these new locations in the Philippines in 2025 to meet this demand in both urban centers and key regional areas,” he said.

Hybrid and flexible workspaces seek to maximize office space and help businesses cut costs. To ensure productivity, these workspaces may be altered to a company’s needs.

According to real estate services firm JLL, hybrid workspaces are expected to take up 30% of corporate real estate by 2030.

The new hybrid working centers, under IWG’s Regus, HQ, and Spaces brands, will be built in Makati, Cavite, Tarlac, Batangas, Tuguegarao, Ilagan, Antipolo, Santiago, Pampanga, Malolos, and Montalban, Rizal next year.

These expansions would increase the number of IWG’s hybrid working spaces to 50 by the end of 2025 from 33 at the end of this year.

The new IWG locations will include facilities like private offices, meeting rooms, and co-working and creative spaces.

Likewise, IWG’s “Design Your Own Office” service allows companies to alter the working space according to their needs.

By March of next year, IWG is set to open its first Regus center in Antipolo through a partnership with Metro Retail Stores Group, Inc.

IWG will also open a center inside South Supermarket in Lipa, Batangas. The expansion, happening in the first quarter of 2025, will cater to the need for workspaces in the CALABA (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas) region.

“With its strong business process outsourcing (BPO) presence, top-tier talent, and rapid residential and commercial growth, Batangas is perfectly positioned for flexible workspaces,” IWG said.

The company is also partnering with Aurora Subic Leisure, Inc. to open a Regus center at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Pampanga. It will be opened in the first quarter of next year.

Other centers that will open next year will be in urban and regional locations such as the Sinocan Corporate Center in Parañaque (opening in May 2025), Tagbilaran, Bohol (June 2025, in partnership with Tagbilaran Uptown Realty Corp.), Carmona and Victoria de Makati (first quarter of 2025), and Mabalacat, Pampanga (first quarter of 2025).

Through its partnership with XRC Resources, Inc., IWG is opening centers in Xentro Mall in Batangas City, Metro Shoppers Mall in Tarlac, and in other cities in Luzon such as Malolos, Tuguegarao, Ilagan, Montalban, Antipolo, and Santiago. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz