24 Jun Episode 7: What is the Future of Freelance Work?
Freelance work something of a controversial workforce trend.
To some, it is the dreaded gig economy, those who are forced to work on contracts or driving ride shares because they cannot find that holy grail, the full-time job. To others though, it represents freedom, the ability to have some control over their professional lives and maybe even to earn more money while they are doing it.
To be sure there is some of the first out there, but we should not lose sight of the fact that it is the second part that is growing and becoming an economic force. Certainly that was true before the pandemic started. According to a survey from the platform Upwork.com, as of 2019 there were as many freelancers in the U.S. who saw being freelance as a long term choice as there were those who saw it as temporary. By their count 35% of working adults in the U.S. freelanced in some way, possibly as a way to augment income, possibly full time.
Of course, that was last year, when the unemployment rate in the U.S. and in Canada and in many other countries was at a generational low. People were choosing to freelance, but perhaps now they have lost jobs – the unemployment rate in each country is over 13 percent now – they have to choose it. What else has changed? Is freelancing going to grow from here, or will the jobs dry up? Well to explore that we have two guests from different sides of things to give some perspective.
Guests:
Sarah Tang
Vice President, Enterprise
Freelancer.com
Sarah Tang is an intrapreneur – founder and Vice President of Freelancer.com Enterprise, where she heads up the strategy, product and account teams to co-create workforce transformations with leaders at Fortune 500s. NASA, Deloitte and Facebook are amongst the partners of Freelancer.com Enterprise, to name a few. Previously she worked as a Product Manager, then Head of Global Operations for the company. She is on SIA’s Global Power 50 of the world’s most influential women in Staffing x Tech. She currently collaborates with Harvard Business School and LISH (Lab of Innovation Science) on research and thought-leadership to build the future of work. https://digital.hbs.edu/platforms-crowds/the-curation-of-collective-intelligence/
Danny Margulies is an independent freelancer, writer, entrepreneur, and coach. His works have been featured in major online publications, including Forbes, Inc., Bloomberg, Business Insider, and more. He regularly publishes his best tips for succeeding at freelancing via his blog, at FreelanceToWin.com.
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