Let's fix the stupid job crisis ourselves

[Tony Bacigalupo]

Howdy coworking people!

One day, I was talking to a very good friend of mine, who was regaling with me with tales of her struggles to find good work. This friend of mine is brilliant. She's a fantastic person. And, like so many people, she's being utterly chewed up by our nation's job crisis and this feeling like she has no control over her own destiny.

It got me angry. I spend every day working alongside people who are highly empowered and living life on their terms, and many of them aren't doing anything so complicated or specialized that my friend or lots of other people couldn't be doing something similar. Yet, here I was, talking to this good friend of mine, who wanted me to help her figure out how to get someone to hire her for a job that she didn't even want.

She's too good for that. So many of us are. This is stupid.

Long story short, while talking to her, I had a few beers and created this: http://nwc.co/letsfixthestupidjobcrisis

Here's why I'm telling you all about this: In just a few years, our coworking communities have risen from obscurity to constitute what is today a global network of local centers where people gather to help each other work for themselves. We're only just starting to realize the sheer potential of that. 

I believe that we collectively constitute the foundation for the solution to our planet's economic challenges. 

Our spaces can be not just places for people who have already figured out how to work for themselves, but also crucial entry points for people who seek to join our ranks. We give them a unique opportunity to be exposed to a world they might never otherwise have seen, and to find people to help them figure out how to join our ranks.

We've been supporting the needs of the growing independent workforce implicitly in everything we do, but I'm curious to see what kind of damage we could do if we made this an explicit part of our agenda. Not just to do what we do, but to do what we do with a shared ambition help more people work for themselves.

I care so much about coworking because it represents our best shot at fundamentally rethinking and repairing our badly broken relationship with our work.

Have any of you out there been thinking something similar? I'm serious about this. I want to talk about real ways we can do things to put a serious dent in the global job crisis and get a lot of people back to work. 

Who's with me?

Cheers,
Tony Bacigalupo

New Work City

PS - I realize the presentation I made is largely US-centric, but the general trends are largely global. If you've got a perspective to share from a different socioeconomic situation, I'd love to hear it!

[Miles Fidelman]

Tony Bacigalupo wrote:
>
> Long story short, while talking to her, I had a few beers and created
> this: http://nwc.co/letsfixthestupidjobcrisis
>
>

<snip>

> Have any of you out there been thinking something similar? I'm serious
> about this. I want to talk about real ways we can do things to put a
> serious dent in the global job crisis and get a lot of people back to
> work.

Sounds great, but begs a key problem - what we really need is demand.
Between a stalled economy, and increased productivity over the years
(including automation and off-shoring), we kind of need to prime the
pump somehow.

Which kind of suggests that marketing and sales are a key part of the
mix. Just like the "move your money" campaign has been shifting a lot
of customers from large banks to credit unions and local banks, how
about a "move your business" campaign, to move purchasing from
traditional businesses, to our kinds of businesses.

Miles Fidelman




--
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is. .... Yogi Berra

[Sabrina]

Hi Tony,

 

I love your presentation and ideas. The reason I have been pursuing starting up a coworking community in my new home in England (I’m from the US) is that there isn’t a coworking community here yet, and like many places in England (OK, the world) the economy has taken its toll, and loads of hugely creative and talented people are underemployed at best. To me, developing a coworking community is exactly the right way to self-help our way back to a healthy, if not vibrant economy. Even better, it is something that I know I can do to help us all move in that direction. Because successful coworking focuses on community, it fosters pride in our unique ‘place’, and ourselves, and that pride inspires confidence. Who doesn’t love to be around other confident people who are excited about their work and community?

 

So I agree with your idea that we can and should just carry on ourselves, and I agree that coworking is a brilliant vehicle to use to move forward. Miles, I love the ‘move your business idea’.  Steve King mentioned in his blog recently how larger businesses are recognizing their future growth may lie in sales to smaller rather than larger businesses (http://www.smallbizlabs.com/2012/09/why-everyone-wants-small-businesses-as-customers.html). Maybe we can encourage a similar trend in growth that comes from smaller businesses supporting each other, including our micro-businesses, in our own communities.

Sabrina Simpson

Plymouth Cowork

[Alex Hillman]

They have to pay the rent and worry about filling their desks, connecting the wifi and selling coffee.

Delegation, baby. Delegation. 

If you're more than a year into running your coworking space and you're still the only person doing these things (I'm not just talking about hired staff), you're right - there's no way you have the bandwidth to take on a role like this. 

But I'd argue that if you're more than a year into running your coworking space and you're still the only person doing these things (again, I'm not just talking about hired staff), there's a much deeper problem present. 

-Alex

--

/ah

indyhall.org

coworking in philadelphia

building a community? http://masterclass.indyhall.org

On Thursday, October 25, 2012 at 4:57 AM, Joel Dullroy wrote:

"I'm curious to see what kind of damage we could do if we made this an explicit part of our agenda. Not just to do what we do, but to do what we do with a shared ambition help more people work for themselves."

Tony, this is exactly the question I want to ask the coworking community!

I also believe there is a huge role for coworking space to play in what I call the freelancer rights movement. Coworking spaces can be:

- The gathering points for independent people to find a shared identity

- The information distribution points for sending out important messages and starting campaigns

- Nodes in a network of independent communities, bound by mutual economic and social interest

BUT....

Coworking space managers also have a lot of other jobs to do! They have to pay the rent and worry about filling their desks, connecting the wifi and selling coffee. Are they ready and willing to take on an extra job --- a quasi-political role of organizing independent workers to fight for their rights and build new community structures?

I honestly want to know! Are coworking space managers up for this extra job?

By the way, I talk more about how coworking spaces can play a major role in the freelance rights movement in this short video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAsULd8q8yk

Joel

PS: I've recently helped form the Verband der Gründer und Selbständigen Deutschland, Germany's freelance rights group

--
Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
 
 

[Tony Bacigalupo]

Miles, fair points-- there are obviously huge forces at work when we talk about jobs and the global economy. I'm interested in focusing on that which we can do right now to help move things forward. Perhaps we can't singlehandedly fix everything, but I'm betting we can put a serious dent in things.

Joel, awesome. I'd posit that coworking space owners, simply by internalizing this perspective, can use it to guide the decisions they make about how they manage their spaces and the programming that takes place in them. If a space owner happens to also be interested in organizing something around this topic, great-- but they should also be up for accommodating others who'd be interested in doing the same. 

There are a lot of ways of looking at this-- part of why I'm sharing this now is to explore all the different ways we might approach the issue.

Sabrina, thanks! Let's keep the conversation rolling :)

[Glen Ferguson]

Tony, your post yesterday was strangely prescient. Walking home  Tuesday night, I had a conversation with a young homeless woman I chat with most mornings. I suspected, but didn't know for sure until that night what her situation was. She had checked out a Cowork Frederick flyer and wanted to confirm she understood what coworking is. She just found out that with winter coming, she's not getting a spot in any of the shelters in town. She's also resigned herself to the situation that no business is willing to hire her, so she's going to have to find a way to make money on her own, and could she join us (and pay, btw) so she'd have a real workplace.

Now, I don't know if she's going to follow through with this, or if the methods she used a few years ago to make money online are still viable today, but I know if she's going to make an honest effort to be self-employed, I'm going to share some books, knowledge and encouragement and we'll see where it goes from there.

Thanks for making me feel like I'm not a lone idealist.

Glen

[Tony Bacigalupo]

Glen, that's a fantastic story. Can you please keep me/us in the loop? I'd love to highlight the stories of people who are working to become self-sufficient as examples for others.

[Alex Hillman]

Glen, this story is remarkable and makes me so hopeful.

Thank you for sharing, and please keep us posted on how it goes. 

--

/ah

indyhall.org

coworking in philadelphia

building a community? http://masterclass.indyhall.org

[Customer Service]

Sounds like a plan Tony, count us in!

 

Citizen Space

Direct: 415-501-9155

Skype: citizenspace

http://www.citizenspace.us

Twitter: http://twitter.com/citizenspace

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/citizenspace
"A Nicer Place to Work"

 

---

From: cowo...@googlegroups.com [mailto:cowo...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Tony Bacigalupo
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2012 11:58 AM
To: coworking
Subject: [Coworking] Let's fix the stupid job crisis ourselves

[Jacob Sayles]

We threw this out to our members and we are going to get together on Thursday (our 5th birthday!) to discuss the topic.  I'd love to hear about how other spaces are getting involved.  

Jacob

---
Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation
http://www.officenomads.com -  (206) 323-6500

[Nicolas Bergé]

Tony, I'm with you 200 %.

We should be prepared for the days coworking will be an industry.

Our members and the people we meet everyday in our coworking spaces get the "just (f*****g) do it" mantra. But what about the others. I've met tons of people - and some are good friends - to whom the "just do it" doesn't work though they frequently address me their entrepreneurial projects. They want to create but the spark is missing somehow.

So we have this first.

Then we have what some of us called the "we work in..." spirit which is epitomized by these community guides of people gathering on this sole idea that they are proud to live and work in their city and they care about its economic outcome (we have one in Nice, "inspired by Philly", thank's again Alex). Which means that they could embrace whatever is possible to "fix the stupid job crisis themselves".

Starting with this, and with a growing understanding of our national and local environment, we decided to join forces in the French Riviera. We decided to build an annual program which goal is **Citizen Innovation**. Some have the ideas, brilliant ideas to improve the quality of life in their city. Some have the talent to put these ideas into motion. We just have to allow these two groups to meet and to work together : this is the spark. This program is based on civic actions. It is also based on participatory opportunities : every concerned citizen of Nice will be given the chance to participate to something big, good and useful for the city they love. And everyone is in the thread : local gov., associations, private companies. If it allows some to "just do it", then I'll be glad. We all will be glad, won't we ?

I will talk about this in Paris so let's catch up, Tony, and the others. Coworking, today, is the catalyst.

Cheers

Nicolas Bergé

Les Satellites

[Deborah Reese]

Tony and everyone,

 

This is awesome. This is right in alignment with a flurry of activity that’s happening here at Convivium: People are coming to join our coworking space because they just quit their “day jobs” and are now pursuing their dream of starting their own solopreneurship. They know that they have to become experts at marketing themselves on the internet, and are struggling to learn how to do that. Our one internet marketing professional member is swamped with work already from her out-of-state clients, and wants to farm out some of the easier/more tedious work to other people who are beginners in the field, and pay them a lower rate in exchange for her teaching/mentoring.

 

So we’ve started an internship program to fulfill this need, and are quickly finding out that our other members and even people who are totally outside our community are interested in hiring our interns to do some of their internet marketing tasks. Some of them are aware they could hire a virtual assistant online to do this work, but don’t feel comfortable giving the work to a stranger who may be in another country – they’d rather hire somebody local that they can meet and talk to in person.

 

I’m starting to get the feeling this could be BIG. We could become a connection hub for freelancers/aspiring freelancers and people looking to hire them. We could really help our members who are not experts in internet marketing focus on what they’re really great at and grow their businesses.

 

And although internet marketing seems to be the biggest demand right now (at least in my community), I can easily see this applying to other needs such as billing/accounting and any other area that many new independents are inexperienced.

 

I agree that there are all kinds of potential issues from liability to how the coworking space manages/facilitates this and what makes it worth it financially to the coworking space. But I’m certainly willing to test this idea and participate in conversations with other Catalysts who are trying it!

 

Deborah Reese

Catalyst, Convivium Coworking

Albuquerque, NM

[Tony Bacigalupo]

Deborah, that's fantastic. It's a perfect example of the kind of maturation that's taking place in coworking spaces right now. We've always been great places for people to build their businesses, but to date that's largely been seen as the serendipitous side effect. Now, we're designing for these sorts of benefits and optimizing for them.

Going solo is a hell of a lot easier if you're a member of a coworking space. The more we position ourselves not just as great places to work for those who already work from home, but as great places for people to develop successful independent careers, the better off everyone will be.

[Jeannine]

Hey. Tony and all,

If anybody were, say, moved to put this presentation on the Coworking Marketplace, say, for instance, under collaborations, I would be thrille- er, think that was very appropriate.  :-)

Jeannine

[TibiaeTech]

hi Tony

The ability to provide for oneself is a natural "right' not a privilege 

I recently shifted  my focus from  management  coworking space management  to change managemenI with a view of creating 'industries' while the original focus was the  creative sector, we've been  approached by  noncreatives, interested in  self employment.  Originally  started focusing on "space", as a solution however soon realized that our core target group had immediate financial needs. 

1. Ideas/product development skills
   
2. Business development skills
   
3. Work space
   
4. Living expenses

They  could not  pay  the low rates of existing  coworking spaces many were on extremely  fixed budgets. Jobs was not an option  but a necessity, in fact  many had challenges with food  and serious housing issues. Friends and  Family  were not an option. When we recommended existing spaces to those who had income sources, 24 hour accessibility became an  issue,  as did space design and since we dealt with the creative sector, equipment. We did however  develop a process that guided the "unemployable", to become not just income earners but  to also  hire others, The system is not  100%  new  this coworking  collaborative independence model is one  I saw my  mother and others engage in. In  recent months I've been working  with "non-creatives'.
I'm exploring a virtual model as a support system for existing local communities in the US and international. We've tested it with solid results and  have committed to documenting a "how to guide' 

 I have been  looking  at existing  coworking spaces to recommend but 24 access and space design is still a challenge as is location. These solutions need to be  within easy walking and travel distance to communities.   

The greatest  challenge, the one aspect that pops up  and separates those who look for a job and those who opt for the freelancing/coworking option is  for lack of a better word a "need' to be validated, by being hired,or as some have pointed out, the willingness to take risk. Looing  for programs/experts resources in that type of change management 

[vienitchka]

Cheers Tony,
Indeed, European situation is not that different.
Today I had a freshman coworker who lost his job two months ago. He came in by accident never before hearing of coworking at all.
After three hours he was leaving with his job done and two new deals he got from another coworker who just didn't have the time to do it himself.
I'm wondering how can the space design or the space manager facilitate redistribution of excess deals, also oustside coworking spaces. 
Managing this consciously might widen the circle of coworking beneficiaries and explore the role we anyway subconsciously and yet inefficiently manage.
Kind Regards
Adam
coworkingzoo.pl

[Jerome Chang]

I totally agree we should facilitate as best as we can. But sometimes even if you bring a horse to water, you can't make the horse drink. The best we can do is point the way and provide him tools. 

Our best tool is to make in-person introductions. We can of course manage for ourselves what those opportunities might be like leads for others (vs for yourselves), but otherwise I'm not a big fan of any online/digital "platforms" that still keeps a disconnect between two potential collaborators when we managers are right there in person. 

Jerome

www.BLANKSPACES.com

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Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com

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