Since the very beginning of our civilization, outside jobs were done by men and women were supposed to take care of the household work. No education was provided to women and neither their families allowed them to go outside and work. Today our society has evolved and women are not just educated but they are also working outside their homes. Today, most of us want to know how are coworking spaces attracting women? If you are one of them then, you will definitely get the answer to this question by the end of this article.
The journey of women has not been easy as it has been for men. According to a study by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2014, 19% of women’s fatalities were homicides as compared to 8% of men. Of these homicides, 32% were committed by a domestic partner, 16% by a coworker and 12% by the customer or a patient.
What are the various problems faced by women in a workplace?
Gender Biasness
This a very common problem faced by a woman in our society. At the recruitment stage itself if a girl and a boy are competing for the same job firms tend to give that job to the male counterpart as people believe that girls less efficient at work as compared to boys. In many firms, girls are asked about their backgrounds and family planning because firms can’t give them any maternity leaves.
Physical Harassment
Molestation and sexual harassment are the most heart twisting problems that women are facing in the workplace. One-third of women that I interviewed have faced harassment and around 60% don’t report it either.
Improper work-life balance
According to a survey conducted by ASSOCHAM on 1000 women professionals, around 80% of the families expect their daughters/daughters in law to focus more on household over official work. Traveling long distances to work and managing various work duties don’t give enough time to women to look after their families.
Physical Assaults
Daily new cases of physical assaults are emerging. Women have to face uncivilized men who treat them like shit. According to a study by crime survey of England and Wales in 2015-16, around 3 lakhs women faced work-related violence including physical assaults and threats.
How are coworking spaces attracting women back to the offices?
Today shared or coworking spaces have become very popular. With continuous rise in real estate prices, coworking spaces offer cheap infrastructure along with additional facilities. But how safe are they for women? Women have rated coworking spaces as their number 1 working spaces. They provide them with cheap infrastructure and fixed resources. Instead of traveling long distances to various companies, they can join a nearby shared space to work and avoid traveling.
Here are few ways through which shared spaces are attracting women.
Community manager at your assistance
Every shared office has a community manager who takes care of the whole community. His/her main task is to make sure that no coworker is facing any difficulty.
Online issue redressal system
Coworking spaces provide online issue redressal system through which women can complain about any issues that they are facing in a coworking office.
24 hour security
Shared spaces have CCTV cameras to make sure that you and your belongings are safe in the office. Women can work tension free knowing that everything’s been recorded.
A chat with the owner
If any women are facing domestic or workplace related problems she can talk to the owner of the coworking office and the owner will make sure to provide the victims with some solutions.
Virtual offices
Women, in particular, are not comfortable to give their home addresses as their professional addresses. Shared spaces solve this problem. They offer virtual offices where women can use the address of a coworking space as her professional address and get all her important work-related emails and packages on the shared space address. They just need to come to the office and collect their belongings.
Close to family
Many people don’t join or leave the company as its location is far away from their families. They are not able to spend much time with their families. Working at coworking office which is near to their homes allows people to have a proper work life balance. They are able to work properly knowing that they are close to their families.
Shared spaces are providing various options to women so that they can come to the coworking office and perform their work duties without any worries.
