New research looks at the growing wave of people working from cafés and other alternative locations. 

Working from cafés has been commonplace amongst freelancers for years, but with hybrid working becoming the new ‘normal’, more and more people are popping up almost anywhere WiFi is offered. 

Previous studies have revealed that almost half of remote workers now spend time each week working from cafes or other third places. The trend is particularly popular with Gen Z workers, 10 per cent of whom say third places are now their preferred place to work.

New research from Swinburne University of Technology, partnering with Third-Place.org, shows that when it comes to third place work venues, cafes are the clear favourite – but participants mentioned they sometimes also use other third places, such as libraries, pubs, parks and coworking spaces.

On average, the researchers found that people who work in third places will typically do so between 2-3 times each week. They will stay anywhere between 15 minutes and 4 hours and spend between AU$4 and AU$30 each visit. Most of the time, they will go to a third place on their own. When they use a third location for small meetings, the size of the gathering rarely exceeds 2 or 3 people.

The most common work tasks completed outside of the home and office are deep individual work, creative thinking/work, reading, admin tasks, paperwork, emails, small meetings and informal phone calls.

There are many factors that attract workers to a third place venue – including good coffee, cost, nice music, privacy and outdoor space – but by far the most popular responses were:

  1. feeling welcome

  2. reviews

  3. WiFi and power sockets

Overwhelmingly, ‘laptop workers’ want a nice, friendly atmosphere – that is not too crowded, noisy or have staff pressuring them to leave after a certain amount of time.

The research found that workers opt for snacks and light meals, with more than half of third place workers saying they would only ever buy something they could ‘eat with one hand’ – with sandwiches, pastries, cookies and muffins being the most popular choices.

The top three benefits to working in a third place were seen to be mental reset, community and social connection, and great food and coffee. When asked to what extent working from a third place positively contributes to their overall wellbeing, the average response was 86 per cent.

The chance of continuing to use a third place for work in the future was 98 per cent. However, it was found that not all work tasks are suitable for third places. Workers said they strongly avoid these environments when working on something of a confidential nature (or with security or privacy risks), for longer or larger meetings, and when doing tasks that require a bigger screen or other specialist equipment.

One of the researchers, Associate Professor John Hopkins, says the study was able to identify a few clear archetypes. 

“We identified a range of different third place users. ‘Device Disconnectors’ like to visit third places for a quick break away from technology, ‘Caffeine Creatives’ use the change of environment as a mental reset to help them  think creatively, ‘Suburban Socialites’ like to counteract the threat of loneliness when working-from-home with short regular visits to their local third place, and ‘Lunchtime Liaisons’ use third places for regular meetings with clients or colleagues, often combining this with lunch or breakfast,” he said. 

“Venues looking to attract workers might have signage welcoming people to work within, provide a dedicated working space, advertise the wi-fi password or offer special bundles, such as a two-hour package including unlimited coffee and a sandwich.”