Managing the Start-up Working Life: The Emergence of Creative Labour, Coworking Spaces and Hubs in Athens

The deepening sovereign debt crisis has resulted in the increasing visibility of coworking spaces, hubs and start-ups in the Athenian downtown area. Due to poor job prospects, a growing number of employees are engaged in entrepreneurial activities. This PhD study, based on qualitative research carried out in coworking spaces in Athens, examines how professionals conceptualize their needs and position themselves in the labour market, while based in coworking spaces. It illustrates the diversification of the Athenian coworking landscape and it offers insightful accounts of the ways people manage their start-up working life by analysing its qualities and the ways they shape their entrepreneurial selves. The thesis concludes by arguing that people at coworking spaces have a demanding working pattern that directly affects their work-life balance. However, despite the precarious and uneven nature of their occupation, their professional career steps are experienced as highly rewarding, ethical and creative. Therefore, I argue that we currently see the emergence of ‘desperate optimists’: a workforce which eagerly accepts its precarious conditions of work, cultivates a deep and profound connection with their occupation and, for that reason, undertakes the risks of acting entrepreneurially.