Coworking and Flexible Work: When the Office Stops Making Sense

At the start of 2025, a Latin American fintech with over 40 employees faced a quiet but increasingly obvious dilemma: their office no longer reflected how they actually worked.

The 3,200 sq ft lease seemed, on paper, to be a strategic asset. In reality, it was oversized for a team that only came in 2 or 3 times a week and in many cases worked directly from other cities.

The result: less than 40% actual utilization.

Each empty desk was a reminder of how inefficient that setup had become.

The Problem: Paying for Square Footage Nobody Uses

Rent, maintenance fees, and upkeep represented more than 8% of the company's fixed operating costs.

In a market where fintechs need to move fast, that inflexibility was dead weight.

The cost wasn't just financial—it was cultural too.

• The team saw the office as a burden rather than a resource.
• The space was associated with obligation and expense, not collaboration or connection.
• Hiring decisions were limited to people living near headquarters.

What once was a symbol of growth had become an anchor.

The Decision: Redesigning the Work Model

Instead of renewing the contract, leadership asked a critical question:

Do we need a fixed office, or do we need access to spaces that match how we actually work today?

The answer became a customized hybrid strategy:

1. Flexible coworking access for the entire team. Anyone could book professional workspace whenever needed.
2. Fixed presence twice a week at the same location. One regular meeting point was maintained, but intentional and limited.
3. Monthly budget for those in other cities. This ensured everyone had access to nearby coworking spaces, eliminating inequality across the team.

The Results: Numbers and Culture

The impact was immediate:

• 40% reduction in monthly real estate expenses.
• Zero square footage paid for but unused.
• Improved sense of well-being, according to internal surveys.
• Higher attendance at in-person meetings, because they were now purposeful rather than mandatory.

But the most important shift was intangible: the workspace became aligned with how people actually worked.

Instead of paying for empty desks, the fintech invested in meaningful meetings and real flexibility.

Beyond Cost Savings: A Mindset Shift

What makes this story compelling is that the savings were just the beginning.

• The company could now hire talent from other cities without worrying about relocations.
• The team started valuing in-person moments more, because they had clear purpose.
• Culture stopped depending on walls and square footage, and started building on shared experiences.

This shift revealed that the real power of flexibility isn't in spending less—it's in getting better value from what you spend.

The Question That Lingers

Many companies across Latin America are still locked into long-term leases for offices that aren't used the way they once were. Meanwhile, they face rising costs and struggle to attract diverse talent.

The fintech in this case found a way out that wasn't magic or radical: they simply started asking better questions.

Is your current office actually being used, or just being paid for? Does your workspace match how your team really works? What if the workplace became a flexible service instead of a fixed contract?

The future of work isn't about having more square footage—it's about having spaces that respond to actual use and business strategy.

This fintech's experience proves it: redesigning where we work doesn't always mean a bigger budget. Sometimes it just means rethinking how we approach space.

And that decision, far from being merely a real estate matter, can transform the productivity, motivation, and culture of an entire team.