Amata Law Offices

Demand for freelancers continued to climb in 2014 as employers sought to streamline operations and reduce overhead, and if the latest numbers are any indication, the trend shows no sign of slowing in the months and years ahead.

In fact, it’s estimated that freelancers, defined as “individuals who have engaged in supplemental, temporary, or project- or contract-based work in the past 12 months,” currently account for 34 percent of the U.S. workforce, contributing more than $700 billion to the nation’s economy each year. While experts have varying opinions on how quickly the freelance economy will grow – some predict independent workers will make up as much as 50 percent of the workforce by 2020 – the general consensus is that the “full-time job with benefits” is falling out of favor with workers who increasingly prefer the flexibility of the project-to-project lifestyle.

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What’s the best way to promote teamwork and collaboration in the workplace?

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If you work in a shared office space, chances are, you have been invited to networking events and turned them down. Maybe you were actually busy, or maybe you thought they would be a boring waste of time. Actually, these events can be incredibly beneficial, and any business person serious about their growth should invest some extra attention into them.

Networking events can help you expand your network (big surprise, right?) of colleagues, mentors, customers, employees, friends, the list can go on. You never know what kind of connections might spring from them. And we are all familiar with the old adage, “It’s not what you know, but who you know”.  This is a valuable benefit to working in a Chicago shared office space.

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Shared offices are a popular choice for entrepreneurs with an eye toward expansion, offering everything from best-in-class amenities to a built-in professional network that can prove invaluable to growing businesses. But at what point does it make financial sense for a company to leave the shared office environment and transition to a space of its own?

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Shared offices are a permanent home for some businesses, while others view them as more of a stepping stone to a space of their own. After outgrowing their office at Amata’s 161 N. Clark location, DSML tapped Amata’s in-house brokerage team, Amata Realty Group, to help the firm find and negotiate a lease for a larger space that could better accommodate their growing business. A few weeks later, they found an office just a couple of blocks away, allowing the firm to maintain a presence in Chicago’s central business district. “Amata’s brokers know the Loop market and were helpful in narrowing down our options,” said co-founder and director Myriam Le Cannellier.

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A recently released survey commissioned by the American Psychological Association found that six in 10 U.S. adults consider work to be a very or somewhat significant source of stress in their life. And for entrepreneurs, who often find themselves working longer hours for less pay, anxiety levels can be even higher, taking a toll on their business and, more importantly, their health.

While a person’s work environment can have negative effects on their mental and physical well-being – open-plan offices have been criticized for facilitating the spread of workplace illnesses – some offices also come with special services and amenities designed to help workers lead happier, healthier, and more productive lives. And it’s not just employees of Fortune 500 companies who have access to them. Thanks to the growing popularity of coworking spaces and other alternative office environments, these health-related perks have become accessible to freelancers and other self-employed individuals, including those who previously worked from home because they could not afford to lease a space of their own.

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