A new study from online jobs marketplace Elance is showing that freelance workers, in many cases, are happy to be doing short-term freelance work. Rather than get a ‘regular’ job and work for the ‘man’, freelancers are increasingly showing that they prefer to work on contract basis and have stopped looking for full-time jobs. The survey is titled The Millennial Survey: New Attitudes Towards Finding Jobs and Working in Today’s Market and is an eye-opening look into freelancing culture.
Looking at the numbers, 83% of respondents say that freelancing is an important part of their career strategy. About 1/4th of the respondents, only 27%, say they would prefer working full time for a single employer. Also, regarding optimism for their career pat, 41% of respondents say they feel optimistic and 37% of folks feel “Very optimistic”.
So this means that not only do freelancers feel great about freelancing, the resounding majority feel very comfortable looking forward about their future working prospects.
These numbers do not surprise me in the least bit. As a victim of the economy last summer, I briefly freelanced and enjoyed the portability of my work and the ability to work from home or anywhere I could get an internet connection. I know many people who have been laid off and turned to freelancing because they got many offers for part and full time contract work and then made the transition to preferring freelance work.
When I freelanced, I really enjoyed it. The two biggest issues, though, are taxes and insurance.
Taxes are a hassle because no one really explains that you need to hold back part of your income. This is especially true if you come from a full time salaried job, where the company basically takes care of filing your taxes and such.
Insurance is a bigger deal to some than others. I personally would be fine without health insurance, as I rarely go to the doctor outside of routine checkups. However, now that I’m starting a family, it’s an entirely different situation.