Freelancers’ spatial and temporal practices in Armenia

In the context of the transition from the industrial model of labor organization to the post-industrial one, the transformations of labor activity are obvious. Labor is gradually based on the idea of freedom, the best manifestation of which is freelancing as a new model of spatiotemporal management. The entrenchment of freelance work destroys the “traditional” model which implies a fixed workplace and working hours. Spatial and temporal forms of freelancing became more relevant in 2020 with the pandemic of a new type of coronavirus (COVID-19). In these circumstances, both companies and employees tried adapting to remote work. New practices of organizing and consuming work space and working time began to appear. Their study is the purpose of the research. The empirical source is the narrative interviews conducted by the authors in order to consider what forms of consumption and transformation of space, planning and time management are used by freelancers in Armenia. The article uses the methodology of narrative semiotics as an analytical basis. The authors have selected the research participants based on three types of spatial engagement: working from home, working in different locations, working in co-working spaces, and gender characteristics. The analysis reveals that the home and public spaces, as spheres of realization of the idea of freedom for labor practices, have their own differences; each of them solves the problems of independent organization of “labor” - “non-labor” spatial and temporal practices in its own way. In the case of working at home, a special type of space is created: a “home - office” hybrid. In the case of those working in public spaces, we can talk about the formation of a new type of urban places which are “public space - office” hybrids.