The Philippine flexible workspace market is expanding beyond traditional business districts as International Workplace Group (IWG) prepares to open five new locations across the country in 2026.
The expansion includes four HQ and Regus centers in Bohol, Lapu-Lapu City, and Taguig, plus the Philippine debut of Humanly, IWG's workspace concept designed specifically for healthcare, wellness, beauty, therapy, and fitness professionals.
The move signals a broader shift in the flexible workspace sector. Instead of serving only companies looking for offices, workspace operators are increasingly developing specialized facilities for professionals and businesses that need flexible access to purpose-built spaces.
Where are IWG's new Philippine locations?
IWG's five announced Philippine locations are:
- HQ Plaza Helena (Panglao Island, Bohol) - Flexible workspace
- Regus Island Central Mactan (Lapu-Lapu City) - Flexible workspace
- Regus Savya Financial Center (Arca South, Taguig) - Flexible workspace
- Regus Alveo Park Triangle Tower (Taguig City) - Flexible workspace
- Humanly APECO Super Health Center (Casiguran, Aurora) - Healthcare and wellness workspace
The locations give IWG a presence across established business districts, tourism-oriented areas, and a smaller provincial community.
That geographic spread is important because flexible work is no longer limited to Metro Manila's central business districts.
Why is IWG expanding outside major business districts?
The economics of office space have changed as companies adopt hybrid and distributed working arrangements.
Rather than maintaining large permanent offices for employees who may only work onsite part of the week, businesses can use flexible workspaces when they need additional capacity, meeting facilities, or professional locations.
The same principle applies to individual professionals.
A consultant, freelancer, startup, or healthcare practitioner may need a professional environment without wanting to commit to a conventional long-term lease.
IWG Philippines says it plans to add 29 locations nationwide and reach 76 centers by the end of 2026.
The company's expansion also reflects the growing importance of regional business hubs. For workers who live outside major urban centers, having professional workspace closer to home can reduce commuting time while giving businesses access to local talent.
What is Humanly, and how is it different from a co-working space?
Humanly is IWG's flexible workspace concept for healthcare, wellness, beauty, therapy, and fitness professionals.
Its first Philippine location at the APECO Super Health Center in Casiguran, Aurora, is designed around the practical requirements of these practitioners.
Instead of providing conventional desks and meeting rooms alone, the facility includes spaces such as:
- Private consultation rooms
- Therapy suites
- Treatment rooms
- Reception areas
- Specialist facilities for healthcare and wellness services
The concept addresses a different business problem from traditional co-working.
A healthcare professional, for example, needs more than a desk and Wi-Fi. They need a suitable environment for consultations and treatments, along with the professional setting expected by their clients.
Humanly allows practitioners to access these facilities without having to shoulder the full upfront cost of establishing a conventional clinic or studio.
Why could this model matter to healthcare and wellness businesses?
Traditional premises can require significant capital for rent deposits, fit-outs, equipment, utilities, reception areas, and ongoing maintenance.
A flexible model shifts some of those costs from capital expenditure toward more manageable operating expenses, depending on the practitioner's arrangement and usage.
For new practitioners and smaller businesses, that can lower one of the barriers to establishing a professional practice.
The model could also provide greater flexibility for practitioners who do not need a permanent facility every day.
However, specialized healthcare practices still need to comply with applicable professional, regulatory, licensing, privacy, and health-and-safety requirements. A flexible facility does not remove those obligations.
How is hybrid work changing Philippine real estate?
The expansion comes as companies reconsider how much permanent office space they actually need.
According to Colliers' 2026 Asia Pacific Workplace Insights Report, 82% of organizations in the Philippines are already operating under hybrid work models, while 32% plan to invest further in workplace upgrades over the following year.
That suggests the office is not disappearing. Instead, its purpose is changing.
Companies may need fewer traditional desks but greater access to meeting rooms, collaboration areas, client-facing spaces, and strategically located offices.
For commercial real estate, this creates an opportunity for flexible workspace operators to become part of a company's broader workplace strategy.
IWG also cites research showing that more than 83% of CEOs have policies allowing employees to work from more than one location.
What does the expansion mean for businesses?
For companies, flexible workspace can offer an alternative to committing capital to permanent office infrastructure.
This can be particularly relevant for businesses entering new cities or testing regional markets.
A company may establish a local presence through a flexible office before deciding whether a permanent facility makes commercial sense.
Flexible workspaces can also support:
- Market expansion — Businesses can establish a presence in new locations without immediately taking on a long-term lease.
- Hybrid work — Employees can work closer to home while retaining access to professional facilities.
- Business continuity — Companies can use alternative workspace when their primary office is unavailable.
- Cost management — Businesses can align workspace requirements more closely with actual usage.
- Regional hiring — Employers can potentially access talent outside traditional business centers.
For SMEs and startups, these considerations can be particularly important because office infrastructure can compete with investments in hiring, technology, product development, and customer acquisition.
What does IWG's global growth say about the flexible workspace market?
IWG's Philippine expansion forms part of a much larger global strategy.
The company says it signed 1,132 locations and opened 782 centers in 2025. Its global network now spans more than 120 countries and includes over one million rooms.
IWG also says 85% of Fortune 500 companies are among its customers.
These figures point to an important development in commercial real estate: flexible workspace is increasingly being treated as an established component of corporate real estate strategy rather than simply an option for freelancers and startups.
The company's expansion also reflects a shift toward decentralized work, where employees and businesses operate across multiple locations rather than relying exclusively on a single headquarters.
What comes next for flexible workspaces in the Philippines?
The next stage of Philippine workplace development is likely to be less about choosing between "office" and "remote work" and more about creating a mix of spaces suited to different needs.
For companies, that could mean maintaining a smaller headquarters while using flexible offices in other locations.
For professionals, it could mean having access to specialized work environments without making long-term property commitments.
And for regional economies, the expansion of professional workspace could help support business activity outside Metro Manila.
IWG's launch of Humanly adds another dimension to that trend. By extending flexible workspace into healthcare and wellness, the company is testing how the model can serve industries where the physical environment is part of the service itself.
As Philippine businesses continue adapting to hybrid work, the real opportunity may be in building a more distributed commercial ecosystem—one where offices, clinics, coworking facilities, and specialized workspaces are available closer to where people actually live and work.