How do Freelancers, Employees and Entrepreneurs cowork?
Freelancers continue to dominate the membership base of coworking spaces, but an increasing percentage of the membership classifies itself as employees, numbering around a quarter worldwide and a third in the U.S. Approximately one in nine members are entrepreneurs, running a business with employees. How do these professional statuses influence the expectations each have of a coworking space?
Coworking strengthens weak ties
In his classic 1973 paper The Strength of Weak Ties, Stanford professor Mark Granovetter described the powerful role that "weak ties" – links among people who are not closely associated - play in spreading ideas, finding jobs and helping people join together for action.
What coworking members want
The ideal coworking space would offer 24-hour access, have an even number of flexible and permanent desks, and would involve members in decisions about the interior design. That’s the picture drawn by the 2nd Global Coworking Survey, which asked coworkers what they want from their workspace.
The members of coworking spaces
There are two myths about coworking that seem to stick around. Before members joined a coworking space, they often worked in coffee shops. And because business centers offer flexible desks, they are a threat to coworking spaces. One of these myths is conditionally true, the other is a dud.