GCUC Podcast Recap: Raj Choudhury

Why “Work From Anywhere” Is the Future And How Coworking Spaces Fit In

Insights from Harvard Business School Professor Raj Choudhury on the GCUC Podcast

What if your office could be anywhere, and your talent pool had no borders?
That’s exactly what Dr. Raj Choudhury, Harvard Business School professor and leading voice in the Work From Anywhere movement, explores in the latest GCUC Podcast. GCUC Founder Liz Elam sat down with Raj to unpack how remote work is evolving and what it means for the coworking industry.

Raj, who captivated the audience during his keynote at GCUC Boston, joined Liz to discuss the rise of location-independent work, its impact on hiring and talent retention, and how coworking spaces can adapt to meet the needs of distributed teams. His new book, The World Is Your Office, provides an in-depth look at the data and strategies behind successful WFA adoption.

What Is Work From Anywhere (WFA)?
Raj defines work from anywhere not as working from home, but as the ability for individuals to choose where they live. Whether that’s a different city, state, or country, they can then work from wherever best suits them: home, a coworking space, or a team satellite office. This flexibility expands an organization’s talent pool and lowers barriers to access.

A Competitive Advantage in a Shifting Landscape
For companies, the benefits of WFA go beyond convenience. According to Raj, WFA allows companies to:

• Hire top talent without geographic constraints

• Convert real estate into a variable cost (using coworking instead of leases)

• Improve productivity (e.g., a 4.4% increase at the U.S. Patent Office)

• Enhance employee retention, particularly for women, who experience higher attrition under rigid return-to-office (RTO) mandates

Recent research backs this up. Return-to-office mandates haven’t improved financial performance but have led to an average 9% increase in employee attrition.

Coworking’s Unique Role
Raj and Liz emphasized how coworking spaces are essential for combating the isolation that can come with remote work. The key differentiator? Community managers.

Coworking spaces aren’t just flexible lease options. They’re designed to foster connection. Community managers actively introduce members to one another, helping to “engineer serendipity,” a concept Raj explains as intentionally creating diverse, meaningful interactions.

Liz added that events like GCUC roundtables do just that: bring together people from different backgrounds and disciplines to engage in real conversations and problem-solving.

How Coworking Spaces Can Attract WFA Talent

Raj offered several actionable ideas for operators:

• Partner with Remote-First Companies: Use platforms like FlexJobs to identify remote-friendly employers and offer their distributed teams discounts or group packages.

• Host Team Retreats and Meetings: Position your space as a destination for remote team off-sites, quarterly meetups, or post-conference gatherings.

• Customize for Different Use Cases: Design spaces that serve solo workers needing focus and privacy, as well as teams coming together for collaboration, mentoring, or onboarding.

Digital Twins: The Next Frontier
Raj also introduced the concept of digital twins, which are real-time digital replicas of physical operations. These are transforming work. From manufacturing to healthcare, professionals who manage or analyze systems via digital twins don’t need to be onsite. This opens a new market for coworking spaces: professionals in remote operations who need a productive environment with community.

Building Inclusive Global Teams
Global hiring also comes with complexity, particularly around taxes and labor laws. Raj recommends using Employer of Record (EOR) services to legally employ talent worldwide, ensuring compliance while simplifying the hiring process.
More importantly, WFA has the potential to redistribute opportunity across geographies. Rather than concentrating talent in megacities, this model allows people to live and work in smaller towns and underserved regions—an outcome Raj argues benefits society as a whole.

Hybrid Work Is Evolving
Raj expands the common definition of hybrid work into three distinct models:

• Weekly Hybrid: Employees come into the office one or more days per week

• Monthly Hybrid: Employees gather for one full week per month

• Quarterly Hybrid: Teams meet once per quarter, enabling even more geographic flexibility

Each model supports varying degrees of WFA and requires intentional planning to maintain cohesion and culture.

What’s Next?
Liz and Raj closed the conversation by reflecting on the momentum they’re seeing around coworking and flexible work. With spaces selling out in cities like New York and coworking thriving globally, including in fast-growing markets like India, it’s clear that the future of work is already taking shape.

Coworking is no longer a fringe idea. It’s a cornerstone of how modern professionals connect, create, and thrive.

Learn more in Raj Choudhury’s new book The World Is Your Office
Listen to the full podcast episode here. 
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