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future of work

FlexTal
In Leadership, Sales & Growth, Strategy & Business

Rebuilding After Layoffs: Why Freelancers Are the Bridge to Recovery

illustration of bridge over water - bridge is orange, water is light blue. Symbolizing how freelancers are a bridge when rebuilding after layoffs

Layoffs are hard. That’s not a controversial statement. It’s a shared reality across industries, especially in uncertain economic climates. For the individuals impacted, it’s life-changing. For leaders who remain, it’s sobering. But perhaps the most overlooked challenge comes after the headlines fade: figuring out how to keep the business moving with fewer hands on deck. That’s when the concept of rebuilding after layoffs becomes a real-time test of strategy, resilience, and flexibility.

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FlexTal
In Leadership, Strategy & Business

How to Tackle Burnout: Flexibility as a Solution

AI-generated image of man with dark hair and a dark green shirt juggling 4 balls. Each ball is labeled with a single word: Backlog, Deadlines, Meetings, and Burnout

When the Pressure Never Lifts

Some teams operate like they’re always in “go mode.” Deadlines stack. Slack pings multiply. Backlogs grow louder. And eventually, burnout shows up, quietly at first – then all at once. Here’s the thing: your people aren’t the problem. The system is. And that’s where flexible teams – not just staffing, but truly flexible teams as a burnout solution – become a vital part of your resilience strategy.

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FlexTal
In Strategy & Business

Hiring Full-Time for a Temporary Problem? Let’s Rethink That.

A Florida-man uses a snow-blower on a white-sand beach with the ocean in the background.

You wouldn’t buy a snowblower in Florida – so why Commit to a full-time hire for a short-term need?

Like any good business Zoom-call about full-time hiring, let’s start with some chit chat about the weather. In January of 2025, something strange happened: it snowed in Florida. It wasn’t a light dusting. No mild flurries. Not even sleet. It was full-on winter snow. Nearly 10 inches of honest-to-goodness, stick-to-the-ground snow blanketed parts of the Sunshine State. It was the kind of weather anomaly that makes the national news – and sparks a thousand group texts starting with, “Can you believe this?”

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Chris Koens
In Leadership, Sales & Growth, Talent Focus, The Future of Work

Tariffs, Tensions, and Talent: Navigating 2025

An AI-generated cargo ship carrying containers labeled "Freelancer" and "1099-Staffing"

When your supply chain gets taxed, your workforce doesn’t have to.

It started with an email.
Subject line: Urgent: Tariff Changes Affecting Your Shipment.
Your morning coffee suddenly tastes like despair. That container of widgets you’ve ordered for years? The duties just jumped from a manageable $2,000 to a migraine-inducing $12,000. And just like that, your budget has all the structural integrity of a wet paper bag.

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Chris Koens
In Leadership, Strategy & Business, The Future of Work

Smart Hiring Is Smart Business: How Freelance Staffing Maximizes ROI

Cartoon man holds "CV" paper while looking shocked

Hiring isn’t just about putting someone’s butt in a chair (or their face in a Zoom square) anymore. It’s about strategy — and more specifically, return on investment. When businesses focus only on the up-front salary cost of a hire, they’re missing the bigger picture. In today’s economic landscape, traditional hiring can quietly drain resources — while agile staffing solutions like freelance talent can dramatically shift the cost-benefit equation in your favor.

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Chris Koens
In Strategy & Business, The Future of Work

Hiring is Broken. Here’s How to Fix It

You know the drill. You meticulously craft the perfect job description and moments after you publish it to your favorite “now hiring” website your inbox becomes a battlefield of résumés, cover letters, and LinkedIn connection requests. You brace yourself for the impending onslaught of great candidates and start to dig in. The first one looks promising — until you open it and see an uber-generic, copy-paste cover letter starting with the disappointingly non-specific “To whom it may concern…” The next applicant boasts “exceptional attention to detial” (yes, spelled exactly like that). Others list “breathing” and “social media posting” as skills. There’s even a group of submissions that claim to be “fast learners” while admitting to no experience related to the job description.

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Chris Koens
In Talent Focus, The Future of Work

15 Tips To Help Freelancers Stop Burning Cash

Graphic image of a jar-candle. Blue background with light blue, orange, and gray graphics.

OR: Is that Cashmere-Plum Scented Candle a Legitimate Tax Deduction

Ah, the freelance life — you’re living the dream, right? No boss breathing down your neck, no soul-crushing commute, and yes, you can absolutely take a “conference call” from your couch while wearing sweatpants (or no pants at all — we’re not judging). But let’s be real: while freelancing offers freedom, it also comes with the financial stability of a Jenga tower on a windy day. One month, you’re rolling in invoices and treating yourself to avotoast and oat milk lattes like a Silicon Valley CEO. The next, you’re eyeing the “fancy” ramen at the grocery store and wondering if you can justify it as a “business expense.”

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Chris Koens
In Design & Creative, Lifestyle, Talent Focus, The Future of Work

WiFi & Wanderlust: The 2025 Digital Nomad Destination Guide

Graphic image of a passport with visa stamps that say "Digital Nomad Destination Guide" and "Work Remote 2025". Blue background with light blue, orange, and gray graphics.

So, you’re ready to swap your home office or co-working space for a hammock by the beach or a cozy café in a bustling city square? Welcome to the digital nomad lifestyle! As we run full-steam ahead into this third month of 2025, let’s explore the most popular, the least trodden, and the easiest destinations for U.S. citizens to relocate to — and thrive — as freelance digital nomads.

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