New shared working space set to open

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    OMAHA, Nebraska (WOWT) — The future of how employees work is unclear in a post COVID-19 world.

Over the past year, many people have been sent home to work. But will that continue once everyone is vaccinated?

A new space located near 19th and Howard has been transformed into a shared working space. Something Neeraj Agarwal, the CEO of Modus, says will help small businesses.

“It’s really meant to be a turnkey office space and really an incubator and ecosystem for small businesses,” said Agarwal.

There is an assortment of spaces for businesses to rent, from conference rooms to offices, to a single desk. Agarwal says he believes this is the future of the workspace.

“Being in the office five days a week is not what most companies will do and that’s not what most employees want to do. You are going to see a lot of people adapt to that reality by downsizing their office.”

Dr. Patti Meglich is a Professor of Management at UNO’s College of Business Administration. She says it’s still unclear what businesses will do moving forward.

It all depends on the type of company you work for and what you do.

“Some companies may stipulate, we need you on-site “x” number of days per week. It can’t be 100% remote because we still want some of that face-to-face interaction. We still need people to gather for certain sort of functions,” said Dr. Meglich.

Dr. Meglich says companies have opted for a co-op office style in the past and this may be a trend that continues into the future.

“Companies have saved a lot of money by not having all of the overhead of running these huge offices where no one is really occupying them.”

Agarwal says a space like this will give companies and employees a place to thrive in going forward.

“COVID has just created the need for a solution of what’s going to be the new norm with a hybrid approach.”

The new office space is set to open at the end of the month and the focus will be on helping minority and female-owned small businesses.

There will be a consulting service, legal advice, and an accounting firm all on-site to help those businesses get the resources they need to succeed.

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