Co-working spaces continue to expand in Lisbon and outskirts

More than two years after the Covid-19 pandemic, and despite a return of employees to conventional office spaces, co-working spaces in the Greater Lisbon area continue to boom with a take-up rate of 80%.

This has been accompanied by considerable investment with new companies coming into the market. Porto’s Gaia in July and Lisbon’s Alvalade in October this year will get co-working spaces from co-working chain Sitio.

And LACS is to invest €2.5 million on new openings and refurbishments, while new spaces in Lisbon and Porto are also planned by the Spanish operator Monday, which has just entered the Portuguese market and is planning its first opening in the third quarter in Lisbon’s Marquês de Pombal.

Monday plans to open around two co-working spaces per year over the next three years, including another in Lisbon and one in Porto according to the CEO of Monday, Xavi Bassons in an interview with the online news source ECO.

A portfolio of six co-working spaces by the end of 2026 will mean a total office space area of 18,000 m2 and a capacity for around 3,000 workers.

The Spanish operator says it is not concerned by the receding hybrid work model (-6.9%) in the technology sector and an increase in the presential working model (+3%) according to a recent study ‘Global Tech Talent Trends 2024’ from Landing.Jobs.

“The market is growing in popularity and flexible offices are an increasingly more attractive option for companies of all sizes, and the trend is clearly on the up and still has a way to go”, said the Monday CEO.

According to Miguel Ricardo, the general manager of Sitio, one of the reasons the sector is enjoying growth will be the migration of traditional office companies to the flexible working model.

The national technology sector is also attracting more international workers setting up in Portugal.

In one year, the number of immigrant tech sector professionals in Portugal has increased from 10.6% to 15.7% states ‘Global Tech Talent Trends 2024’ and the Porto region most represents these professionals (21%).

“We have seen increasingly more demand in the north of Portugal with our spaces in Porto at close to 100% occupation, so to meet demand we’re opening a space in Guimarães in November”, he said.

Sitio also has plans to open a new space in Lisbon’s Alvalade which will have a capacity for 270 working places and an events space over a 2,200 m2.