#WFHospoWeek Encourages Aussies to Work from Clubs and Other Hospitality Venues

Tap, order and pay innovator me&u has teamed up with hospitality-inspired workspace and employee experience platform Third Place to launch National Work From Hospo Week — a movement uniting and encouraging workers into hospo venues across Australia to eat, drink and work flexibly, to enhance their own mental wellbeing, as well as increase mid-week footfall in venues.

Launched on Monday, 16 October, #WFHospoWeek has seen venues across Australia embrace the fast-growing flexible, hybrid and remote work economy as the future of work. The initiative encourages Aussie workers to embrace a change of scenery, moving away from the isolation of working from home, while enhancing mental health, wellbeing and productivity.

During #WFHospoWeek, me&u and Third Place have engaged hospitality communities to provide practical and revenue-driving solutions to mid-week quiet periods and to capitalise on significant consumer demand from workers seeking convenient and experiential hospitality spaces to work, eat and collaborate.

Nine-to-five-ers, flexible and remote workers will be able to set up their laptops at over a thousand venues across Australia’s cities and regional areas, including several NSW clubs:

Bankstown Sports
Parramatta Leagues Club
Club Lake Cathie
Club Burwood Group venues
Norths Leagues & Services Club.

#WFHospoWeek was born from research conducted by me&u that revealed a strong interest in visiting worker-friendly venues, and using these venues as a third space. Nearly three in five (58 per cent) of working venue-goers would use venues as a working location if they had sufficient provisions, and three in five (60 per cent) of working venue-goers would like to use venues more often to meet colleagues or associates during the working day.

Moreover, 2023 research from Third Place found that workers typically utilise 'third place' hospitality venues two to three times per week for an average of one to three hours and often return with family and friends. Additionally, the research revealed that 86 per cent of workers find third-place hospitality spaces contribute positively to overall wellbeing, and 98 per cent would continue to use and support their local venues by using the spaces for work in the future.

“Following the pandemic, we have witnessed a shift in the way Australians perceive and interact with hospitality venues,” Katrina Barry, CEO of me&u, said.

“The pub or club has become more than a place to blow off steam on a Friday night, with many new trends emerging, one of these being Australian consumers seeking to use third places as workspaces, embracing the new future of remote work in a post-pandemic world.

“We also recognise that driving mid-week revenue can be challenging for venues. That's where #WFHospoWeek comes in, presenting a stellar opportunity to integrate third places into the future work norm. This initiative allows venues to diversify their revenue streams and boost earnings during typically slow periods. We wholeheartedly invite businesses throughout Australia to embrace the #WFHospoWeek movement, open their doors and welcome Aussie workers into their venues during the week.

“We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Third Place to bring #WFHospoWeek to life and get Aussies into their locale to benefit both the venues in question as well as the mental wellbeing of workers.”

To learn more about #WFHospoWeek, click here.