San Francisco and Silicon Valley have become layoff central. The thinning of the tech herd has driven more news and traffic to the country’s most depressing blog, Layoff Blog.
As companies are laying off employees and hiring freezes abound, many are looking to start their own thing. If your studio apartment doesn’t lend itself to office space or you’re just one of those people that can’t work at home and needs an office environment and other people to get motivated, then you should look at coworking. Coworking spaces are casual work spaces where people looking to get out of the house to work, can come. Coworking is also great for travelers looking for a remote office. Coworking space usually have all the amenities of a traditional office (e.g. fax, wireless Internet access, copier, conference room, and other people to have lunch with). And you don’t have to put down a year lease or a monthly fortune to get an office, a desk, or just a portion of a table with a chair to work. You can go to a coworking space or if you want to make a greater commitment you can rent a desk or office in a larger office space.
Coworking – These are physically shared office spaces with all the above amenities. You can pay on a daily basis, or a monthly rate. Some options are free.
San Francisco
More details about all these spaces.
Silicon Valley
- Cubes and Crayons – Mountain View, child care and office space
Rent a desk/office – Many offices who have unfortunately had to downsize now have lots of empty desks and offices. Unfortunately, they still have to pay rent on all those empty desks. They’d love to supplement that expense if you want to come and use the space. Here are a list of suggested sites to find and post available desks and office spaces.
If you know of other good coworking spaces in the area, let us know. What do you like about coworking and how has it helped you?
This news item is for the Spark Minute week of 2/2/09 which can be heard daily on Green 960 and 910 KNEW in San Francisco, CA.
