Mipim 2023: Flexible Offices Chief Mark Dixon Says the Office Is Alive and Kicking but Commuting Is Dead

Flexible offices giant IWG's chief executive Mark Dixon says the office is alive and kicking but commuting is the "craziest invention of the last 100 years" and there will be a deeper change in working patterns wherever it is long, inefficient and expensive.

He sees a shift away from working in central business districts and that the winners will be those who have offices where people live, such as suburbs and smaller towns around cities. The company, which opened more than a half dozen sites in Canada last year, tips India as a significant growth area.

Of course, Dixon probably has a bias because his IWG and other flexible office providers are looking to benefit from the dislike of trekking into the middle of cities. Some coworking companies have been putting new shared office space outside main urban areas to try to capture workers who don't want to commute.

Even so, he argues cities will have to reinvent, with coliving and community space of all kinds likely to move into space that was offices.

Dixon also speaks about how Silicon Valley Bank's collapse is being received at Mipim.