Coworking spaces used to be quiet, now they're just cafe 2.0

I've been bouncing around Southeast Asia for 5 years now and I swear every coworking space I walk into has people on Zoom calls at full volume. Was at one in Chiang Mai last month where three different guys were all on client calls at once, no headphones in sight. Am I the only one who misses when folks actually went to the designated phone booths?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamie_webb671mo ago

brooo this hits hard. i was just in a spot in bangkok where some dude was doing a full sales pitch right next to me, no headphones, just raw dogging the audio for everyone to hear. like i get it, we all gotta work, but the whole point of coworking was to not be in a noisy cafe lol. the phone booths are literally right there, they're not even hidden. i miss when people actually respected the quiet zones and kept the loud stuff in the designated areas. now it feels like every space is just hoping you buy a day pass and deal with the chaos.

troy_price1mo ago

The real issue is coworking spaces stopped enforcing basic etiquette because they're terrified of bad reviews from the sales bros who'd complain they got "called out" for being loud, so now the whole vibe suffers for everyone else.

christopherw341mo ago

The real problem is coworking spaces are trapped in this weird middle ground where they want to be trendy social hubs but also functional offices, and they're failing at both. The owners are scared to put up signs saying "no calls at the main tables" because that might scare off the monthly members who pay the bills. It's like they'd rather have a chaotic bustling vibe that looks good on Instagram than a space where people can actually get work done. I noticed the same thing happening in Bali last year, these places would rather let the noise get worse than risk someone leaving a bad review about "unfriendly policies." Until owners decide what they actually want to be, it's just gonna keep turning into a louder version of Starbucks.