The United States' ongoing battle with the coronavirus has slashed flexible offices' occupancy rates and decreased short-term optimism in the industry, according to a new survey. However, their pessimism wasn't mirrored across the globe.

The third "Global Flexible Office Sentiment Survey" was released by Workthere, an online platform that lists co-working providers in various international and U.S. markets. Workthere surveyed 92 flexible offices located in 12 countries, including the United States, Canada, France, Germany and Hong Kong.

Conducted in July, global optimism toward the sector in the next three months was down slightly from 42% in May to 40%. However, only 30% of North American flex office providers had short-term optimism in the market, compared to 59% in May, Workthere found. The decline in optimism is potentially driven by an uptick in members seeking rent relief, up to 39% compared to 33% in May and more members not renewing contracts (from 19% in May to 28% in August's report), according to Workthere.