Work-life balance and the rise of the portfolio career: How people are working now

The way South Africans work is shifting in more permanent ways, and we’re seeing it firsthand here at Venture Workspace. Being firmly rooted in the workspace industry gives us a front-row seat to how local businesses and professionals are adapting in real time. It further provides insight into how business networking is evolving within shared work environments.

This year, Venture Workspace officially turns 10. In just under a decade, we’ve opened five offices across two cities and were voted Best Workspace in the recent Cape Tourism AfricaWorks Awards. We’re fortunate to be here. Few brick-and-mortar businesses make it this far, not because the ideas aren’t good, but because building something physical in a largely digital economy is no small feat.

From our vantage point, we’re endlessly curious about how people approach their work, get things done and strike that just-right balance between productivity and actually enjoying their lives. Read on for our recent musings on how work is happening all around us in South Africa.

Coworking is back (again)

Yes, coworking is back. But in honesty, it never really left. What we’re witnessing now, however, is a clear perspective shift towards the office and how this traditional space is designed and used. Much of this is driven by the flexible hybrid work model, which is increasingly being adopted by the majority of the working world.

People want balance and greater freedom than they had 10-20 years ago. They want to fetch the kids from school, head out to run errands or squeeze in a workout. At the same time, they don’t want to work from home full-time because it’s harder to set boundaries. It can also be quite isolating and lonely, which is proven to be harmful to one’s health.

In January alone, we received just over 300 enquiries across our branches, signalling a renewed appetite for shared offices, coworking spaces and in-person business networking. Given local infrastructure challenges, businesses also need reliable power and ultra-fast connectivity, which local coworking spaces can guarantee. Professionals in South Africa want a dedicated office for their teams, but with the space and flexibility to scale as needed. That’s where coworking and shared office spaces deliver, minus the red tape attached to a year-long lease.

South Africa has roughly three million SMMEs, employing more than 60% of the workforce and contributing around 40% of GDP. That number is likely to grow, and, as we suspect, so will the need for local coworking spaces in growth hubs like Cape Town and Johannesburg. It’s also important to note that coworking and shared office spaces are not reserved only for smaller businesses in business. More established companies are making the move, too.

This renewed wave of coworking is marked by a growing appetite for upscale, P-grade (prime grade) collaboration spaces to enhance professionalism (think Venture Workspace Riverlands).

Throughout 2026, we’re also likely to see shopping and lifestyle centres increasingly repurposed as decentralised work hubs, particularly in high-segmentation areas across the country. This is a strategy we adopted early on, with most of our branch locations based in malls rather than CBDs. For now, we don’t have any new spaces in the pipeline, but who knows what the future holds.

The rise of the portfolio career

Along with hybrid working, there’s an increasing adoption of the ‘portfolio career’ concept. A while back, this would have been referred to as ‘side hustles’, but this modern take is not about frantic money-making. It’s about greater personal fulfilment across multiple ventures. It embraces the idea that ‘your job is not your life’ and that it’s important to invest your time in areas that pique your curiosity, make you feel creative, and even joyful.

This idea ties deeply into the concept of the ‘Renaissance man’, someone proficient in a wide range of skills. It supports the notion that humans should embrace knowledge in several areas and develop themselves as fully as possible. We see this happening naturally with members across our branches as they scale and offer broader services. However, it also seems to be taking strong hold amongst successful individuals who increasingly want greater diversity, not just with their time, but in where they invest their attention.

The “Vitruvian Man” by Leonardo da Vinci is a study of how a human figure can be fitted into two geometric shapes: the circle and the square, exemplifying the Renaissance era’s focus on balance and harmony.

As they do so, they’re arming themselves with multiple careers because they want to, and because we live in a world where we can. For many, access to a flexible collaboration space makes this kind of diversified career model far more sustainable.

That said, the magic of the portfolio career lies in balance (see that word again!). Do everything, and you’ll get stretched thin. It’s not about overfilling your plate and then getting frustrated when you can’t eat it all. Balance isn’t handed to you; it’s something you build, wherever you are in the world.

We’re all still preparing for hardship

While it can be good fun achieving work-life balance and exploring new interests in your career, there’s still a sobering reality across the working community: challenges will continue to arise. Some will be new, while others we’ve faced before.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has just released its 2026 risk report, and unsurprisingly, ‘uncertainty’ is identified as the defining theme. Topping the list of things we need to be concerned about is geoeconomic confrontation, driven by escalating trade tensions and economic fragmentation. Nothing new to see here, aside from a stronger emphasis on misinformation and disinformation, which we personally consider to be among the most acute risks we’re all susceptible to.

Ultimately, we view this report (and many others like it) more as a sentiment check than a cause for alarm. It largely confirms what we’re already experiencing, and what we should reasonably expect in the months ahead. Our key takeaway right now is that the future for all of us in business is not a single, fixed path, but a range of possible trajectories shaped by the decisions we make as a global community. But that’s also why it’s crucial to surround yourself with a solid community that supports business networking and peer collaboration. The rise in remote work has left many operating in isolation. For better and for worse, we’ve built a world where we can work, shop, eat, learn and be entertained without ever leaving the house.

At the time of writing this blog, the rand is trading at around R15.87 to the US dollar (below R16/$ for the first time since 2022!). Take this as a worthy reminder that good things are happening, and will continue to happen.If you’re looking to find balance and restore that sense of community, grab your laptop and head down to one of our coworking spaces. Get in touch with us here. Someone from our team will point you in the right direction.