Blog

Four years ago, TechCrunch published an article called “In the Future, Employees Won’t Exist.” That was their way of predicting that the future state of work will be irrevocably tied to freelance contracting instead of traditional full-time employment.

Artisan Talent has been following the state of freelancing for a decade, and publishing insights on the topic since 2016. We have come a long way since the early days of contracting: The EY Global Contingent Workforce Study says by 2020 nearly one in five global workers will be in some sort of contingent role. LinkedIn says that, by next year, 43% of American workers will be freelancers.

While the future that TechCrunch predicted isn’t quite here yet, let’s look at the current state of freelancing and how it may affect your work prospects in the coming year.

June 8th is National Best Friends Day, the day we should all turn to our favorite BFF to tell them how much we value the time they spend listening to our problems and texting stupid memes at us when we’re stuck in work meetings. If you’re lucky, the best friend you’re celebrating this week might be someone you know from work.

It turns out there’s a solid set of research showing that having friends at the office can increase the chances that the business will be successful and that employees will be happier. Here’s how having a workplace BFF helps businesses retain talent, improve productivity, and cut costs.

“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.”

–Albert Einstein

Why does creativity matter? What role does creativity play in your job? Can a lack of creativity in your life make you sick? This blog has answers about creativity, work, and how humans and corporations can benefit from a little bit of imagination.

Since May 25th is National Wine Day, we thought it would be a good idea to whine a little about how your boss might be driving you to distraction (or wine, for that matter). The statistics back us up on this assumption: 44% of American workers say they left their last job primarily to get away from their boss. Gallup puts the number even higher at 50%.

Everyone reports to someone else and if the person that’s paid to hold you accountable is a poor manager, they could ruin more than your chances for a promotion. Having a bad boss can force you to look for a new career.

Blog posts. E-books. Banner ads. Social media posts. The marketing world is full of content that aims to capture attention, inform, and inspire action. The verdict is set and (you know this): content is king.

At this point, most agencies and in-house marketing departments have full-time Copywriters responsible for the words that populate their materials. But when the same people are producing and reviewing content all the time, it can be easy for mistakes—think: typos, inconsistencies, poor structure—to make it all the way through production.

That’s where Editors come in. As a Freelance Editor, I work with a variety of companies to make sure their marketing content is up to snuff. I do everything from suggesting different blog post intros to making sure that e-book headings are capitalized consistently to catching embarrassing spelling errors.

All of these things fall under the big, polka-dot umbrella of “editing,” but they actually represent different kinds of editing.

I break down the main three kinds of editing below, but before we get into it, let’s answer this question:

Should you contract or go full-time? That’s a question a lot of American workers are asking right now, because, let’s face it, job seekers have options. Historically low unemployment has shifted the balance of power toward the skilled worker, who has more choices when searching for work because there are more jobs to choose from.

More employers are turning to contracting as a way to staff up during fluctuating markets or to help with large one-time projects. Employers that are trying to figure out if contracting is better than hiring full-time will need to know the types of legal options available beyond full- or part-time employment. What are the benefits of having contract workers on the team?

Employees wondering if contract work is right for them should carefully consider their personal work and financial requirements. What are the ins and outs of contracting over full-time employment?

Is contracting right for you?

It’s hard to find good help these days. Thanks to historically low unemployment, this cliché is the real deal. Employers are adjusting to the new balance of power in the hiring game because, in most markets, the workers have the upper hand.

Simply put, there are more jobs than skilled workers right now, so employers are scrambling to sweeten hiring incentives while adopting new recruiting techniques to try to find the help they need to get the job done.

Attention Employers: If you think it’s time to consider lowering your hiring standards, here are some creative tips from your favorite creative talent firm to help you find top talent in 2019.

Attention Employers:
You might be doing onboarding wrong.

There’s no escaping it: All of us function in the economy of words.

From Instagram captions and Facebook posts to the newsletters you find in your email to the mini-magazine that comes with your Dollar Shave Club subscription, words are everywhere. And they have the power to make or break your impression of whatever you’re following—or the impression you have on whoever’s following you.

That’s where I come in. As a Freelance Editor, words are my bread and butter. And I mean that as literally as possible: the money I make editing pays for my groceries, not to mention my rent and utilities and other fun life expenses.

How to Survive an Unhealthy Work Environment

Winter is coming but if you work in an unhealthy corporate culture, it might already feel as bleak as season three in Game of Thrones. If your office feels like competing houses fighting for the Iron Throne, it’s time to stop playing the game.