The pandemic shocked the world—the whole world was shut down, so was the economy. People lost many jobs but those who did not—was working from home. This gave rise to a new phenomenon that was never practiced before on such a massive scale. The phenomenon of working remotely—rather than going out to work on physical office desk.
However, this didn’t happen naturally. The wave of the pandemic wiped down millions of jobs around the globe. According to data given by International Labour Organization, around 400 million jobs were missing during the second quarter of 2020. And people recovered in many ways, the lay off was massive but this was also turning into new opportunities and trends. Like freelancing and working from home.
Freelancing came as a rescue to those who were still hopeful. Freelancing and working from home really picked the trend after that. The digital transformation played a major role in bringing freelancing into a mainstream source of income. Freelancing was not something new, but after the Covid, it has seen a massive surge.
Now people seem to enjoy this trend. Because they don’t have to wake up at a given time and dress up to leave for the office. But on what scale? According to a survey statistics, about 80 percent of people working in employment want to abandon their full-time careers and continue to work as freelancers. 70 percent of whom opt for self-employed options to achieve a healthier work-life balance.
But, what if you still prefer going to an office? Well, let’s figure out some of the pros and cons of freelancing so that you can make up your mind.
1. Perks and Flexibility
One of the biggest advantages that a full-time employee gets, is the multiple benefits. When you work for a reputable organization, you get free healthcare, insurance, paid leaves, provident funds, and some other benefits related to retirement. Apart from that, a full-time position trains their employees and pays for the training until they are fit for the role. This helps the employee to learn and upgrade new skill sets which is crucial for becoming a valuable asset to any company.
On the other side, freelancers seem to enjoy no such benefits. If a freelancer’s gig is lucrative, he usually adds health insurance or any other funds on a personal level. But this is not always the case though—new freelancers can’t ask a lot of money because they are still mastering their skills. The same method is followed for leaves. For instance, if a freelancer has some emergency be it maternity or paternity, they have to take it on their own. Meaning, they won’t work on such days—losing money.
2. Rat race and Innovation
In most case scenarios, the full-time job you’re running for is overcrowded. Thousands and millions of other people are trying to get into the same job role. This instance presents us with many challenges. Some of them are fear of losing your job, not being adequate, more competition, and of course, there is always someone standing to fill up your position. So there is not much you can do about it.
On the other hand, freelancing seems to be innovative enough. Freelancing has its own demands and marketplace. There are many projects which needs to be done quickly by swift hands. So a freelancer would usually take up these projects and finishes them up in a given set of deadline. This is profitable for both the hiring party and the freelancer as they work on an hourly or per-project basis. In addition, all the projects are work from home type, which again pulls the freelancer into the story. All these points make freelancing innovative and a freelancer doesn’t have to run the rat race.
3. Ownership and Freedom
In many places, companies are not making the workers return to their offices. Some companies even set up a local working place for their employees so that they don’t have to waste much time on the commute. Other trend includes hybrid working models: a mixup of the remote and physical workplace. Such trends promise to provide more sense of freedom. Freedom for maintaining a better lifestyle and freedom of choosing their preferred place to work.
In contrast, the very idea of freelancing is a sense of ownership and freedom from sticking to a schedule. Freelancers are their own bosses—which has become a cliché now, but it’s also true. You are free to decide your working hours, your place of work, your projects, and your own rules. A freelancer is perhaps his own boss because they don’t have to work under the supervision of a manager or a superior.
4. Job Security and Struggle
Job security is a major factor while deciding on a job role. This is a fairly valid point especially since we have seen what the unprecedented time of Covid can bring. Working for a position as a full-time employee covers these factors in most of the settings. In many jobs, a contract is signed for a long-term arrangement. More often than not, this is the case with a full-time job which is helpful in providing job security.
Contrarily, this is not the case with freelancing. The very nature of freelancing is unpredictability. The freelancer can only talk about the projects at hand. And when the projects are completed, there is always some kind of struggle to find the next projects based on their skill sets and niche. By this means, their income also rises or falls. For avoiding this, freelancers try to juggle between multiple projects, so that they can reduce the risk of losing a client.
Conclusion
In a 9-5 plot, decision makings are influenced under the guidance of senior persons. Whereas in freelancing, the freelancer is free to walk in whatever direction he chooses to. He can work with the projects he likes, clients he likes, and the schedule he prefers.
All these reasons can influence an individual to go with freelancing over full-time. However, proper self-analysis is a must before doing that. Both types have pros and cons and this guide might help you to decide the best option for your personality and priority.
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