Coworking on demand: the alternative to fixed offices for distributed teams
You only pay for what your team actually uses, with no contract or fixed office required. We explain how the on-demand model works and why it delivers better results for teams spread across multiple cities.
On-demand coworking: the alternative to fixed offices that's gaining ground in distributed teams
The on-demand model allows a company to access a network of coworkings, meeting rooms, and private offices without signing a contract, paying only for the days or hours their team actually uses. For companies with staff spread across multiple cities, this replaces the need to negotiate a fixed lease in each one.
For years, the equation was simple: more employees, more square meters, more contract. But that logic started to crack with the arrival of hybrid work. As detailed in an earlier post on this blog, roughly 40% of office space in Latin America sits unused on an average day, and today there are 1.5 workers for every available seat in the region. The problem isn't a lack of offices: it's that there are too many, poorly distributed and poorly sized.
Faced with this diagnosis, a growing portion of companies with distributed teams—staff working from different cities or countries—started to solve the space problem differently: not by renting more square meters, but by buying access to an existing network.
What exactly is the on-demand model
Unlike a traditional office contract, the on-demand scheme doesn't set a fixed monthly amount per square meter. It works in layers:
- Multi-city network: access to over 700 verified spaces in 30 Latin American cities—coworkings, meeting rooms, and private offices—from which each person books on their own, without requesting approval case by case.
- Budget, not manual approval: HR or Finance sets a monthly budget per person or per team. If the booking falls within that limit, it's automatically approved.
- One dashboard, one invoice: instead of separate invoices by city or provider, the company receives a single monthly report, with details broken down by person, team, and cost center, compatible with the internal accounting system.
For a company with presence in five cities, this means one account and one budget, not five contracts to coordinate.
Not all teams need it equally
From a people management perspective, the most common mistake is treating "hybrid work" as a single category. It's not. The use of an on-demand model varies depending on how the team is structured:
- 100% remote teams: they use it occasionally, for one-off in-person meetings or offsites. It's not their central need.
- Hybrid teams: this is the scenario where it works best. Each person books coworking 2 or 3 days a week, in whichever space works best for them.
- Distributed teams (staff spread across multiple cities): this is the case where the model solves a problem that no local contract alone could solve. People in five different cities, one single budget and one single account administered from one place.
This last category is precisely where companies with large headcount and remote teams by design—not by exception—find the most value: they don't set up an office per city, they set up a budget per person.
How you actually pay
The model is organized by type of use, not by fixed square meter:
| Service | From | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Day pass in open space | USD 15/day per person | Occasional use, internet and coffee included |
| Meeting room | USD 25/hour | One-off meetings, equipment included |
| Private office | Flexible pricing by size and duration | Teams of 2 to 20+ people, by day, week, or month |
| Office Manager | Included at no extra cost | Centralizes bookings, optimizes costs, monthly reports |
How it works in practice
- Add people and set budget—via email or SSO (Google, Microsoft)—, assigning a monthly amount per person or per team. Takes around 10 minutes.
- Each person books from the app, searching by city, neighborhood, or services. If it's within budget, the booking auto-approves.
- One invoice at month end, with details by team, person, and cost center.
Two real cases, two different needs
Candor Investment Group, with a 100% remote team spread across multiple countries, resolved daily access for their entire team under a single budget and one account, instead of negotiating an office per country:
"Today I can give my entire team a benefit they actually use: budget, freedom to choose where to work, and a simple experience for HR." — Milagros Diez, Sr HR, Candor Investment Group
WPP, one of the world's largest advertising companies, booked space for over 50 people for a one-off event, instead of maintaining their own floor reserved for special occasions that would sit empty the rest of the year.
These are two opposite needs solved by the same principle: not all space use is daily or recurring. Paying fixed square meters—whether for the daily use of a dispersed team or for an event that happens a handful of times a year—is exactly the kind of idle spending the on-demand model avoids in both cases.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to sign a long-term contract? No. The model requires no contract or card to get started; you pay only for what you use.
How is usage billed? By day, hour, or month depending on the type of space, consolidated in a single monthly invoice with details by person, team, and cost center.
Can I assign budget by team or by person? Yes, both options are available and are configured from the start.
What cities have available spaces? In over 30 Latin American cities, including Mexico City, Bogotá, Lima, Santiago, Buenos Aires, São Paulo, and Florianópolis.
How long does implementation take? Adding people and budgets takes around 10 minutes; the Desky team responds within 24 hours to support the rest of the process.
If you haven't yet measured how much your office is really being used, start here: How to measure the real utilization rate of your office → and Hybrid presence: how many days per week is your office actually occupied →
Does your team work distributed across multiple cities? Access over 700 verified spaces in 30 LATAM cities, with centralized budget and a single invoice. No contracts, no card to get started.