Technological advances that make communications immediate and increasing changes in the modes of hiring are driving further independent work worldwide, providing benefits to both employers and employees. However, things are not that simple.

By Gwendolyn Ledger

In 1989, Jonathan Franklin, an American journalist, decided he no longer desired to worker under a regular office timetable. There was nothing particularly wrong with his job as editor in the New York Times, but he felt that the daily mess did not allow him to develop issues as deeply as he wanted to.

So he decided to become an independent journalist, “because it was more suitable with the kind of work I wanted to develop”, he explains. And the idea worked well, as his work as a freelance reporter has allowed him to collaborate with several English speaking media companies. As an independent worker he managed to cover stories in Mexico, Cuba, Colombia and Brazil, among other countries in the region, settling in Chile during the mid 1990’s.

Nowadays, 48 years old Franlikn is a correspondent for the prestigious British newspaper, The Guardian, and in 2010 printed the successful book called 33 Men, about the tragedy that involved Chilean miners’ trapped under-earth in Copiapó city, situated in the northern zone of the country. Generally, he develops between 10 and 12 annual research reports, both written and audiovisual, which were published by the media of different countries, thanks to the syndication system.

Jonathan Franklin’s case is not unusual for journalists. But is part of tendency which is growing and coming to other professions.

Currently, demand for this kind of autonomous work reaches from software programing, mobile applications design and article writing to graphic design, translations and accountability works. And, since a few years, these freelancers dedicate more and more time looking for alternatives to make their work international.

According Sebastián Siseles, Latin America Director of the website Freelancer.com, “a great deal of entrepreneurs, professionals and students are gaining benefits from the current exchange rate, which, added to the new labour opportunities and independent projects existing in the internet, present a promising and encouraging scenery for those searching for independence and flexibility”.

The executive states that within this model, professionals gain importance against companies. He or she decides how and with whom he/she desires to work, “thanks to platforms as the one we have, people may aspire to the internationalization of their individual work, with literally million of potential employers around the world. With this system, the professional gains experience, improves her/his incomes, meets people from around the world, virtual team works are created, local and professional entrepreneurship is encouraged, and there is plenty of possibilities”.

Álvaro Vargas, general manager of Trabajando.com Chile, an on line platform for jobs’ search and offer, indicates that data confirms that every year there is a bigger preference for these kind of independent workers.

Vargas explains that: “Companies’ demand, to work with freelancers is based on the lowest cost it implicates, as it allows to eliminate expenses such as: mobilization or food provision, providing more physical space within the company. In the case of freelancers, they acted motivated by the idea of being able to handle their own schedules, being able to combine their personal and professional lives, plus the advantage of being able to choose what kind of work they wish to do.”

In addition, Siseles states that: “Small and Medium companies rather hire independent people because of their lower cost, but may also choose an international professional that grants them the chance to pick among the most talented for the job to be done”

This is confirmed by Cristian Betteley, director of electronic commerce of the company caletadepeces. This 31 year old professional usually hires freelancers from all around the world to develop his projects and highlights that he uses this working method every chance he has due to its great results.
Betteley states that “I regularly work with people from India, China, Peru, Colombia, and occasionally with European and American professionals, as locally there are no professionals available in the sectors I need, which are developers, designers, layout professionals or SEO, community managers or content administrators for different web-app and software projects demanded by my client.”

He also confesses that the existence of freelance work online platforms, particularly freelancer.com, have enabled him to react quickly and safely when he needs people for each project, having the chance to access better prices and a very large database.

Betteley explains the procedure: “When I have a project I do a technical revision in which I define the tasks I need to have done, as well as the estimated time in which they shall develop. I post it in the web platforms, freelancers apply and I filter those who have good experience, feedback from previous works and better prices. Once I pick the professional, I deposit in the system the agreed amount of money and start releasing resources as the freelancer achieves his/her goals.

UNIPERSONAL COMPANIES

Though many still bet on the financial security and stability a permanent job provides, these kind of jobs present less guarantees than a decade ago. This way, freelance work is quickly coming out of the shadows and starting to settle the guideline as traditional labour opportunities start to be scarce.

Good news are that freelancers may have less uncertainty and a greater future stability, as there shall be a greater demand for freelance work of every kind and level, providing more opportunities to keep on this less traditional professional path all around the world. Nowadays it is estimated that one out of three Americans are somehow involved with freelance works, either full or part-time. The Harvard Business Review recently stated that online freelancing is the area with the greatest growth within the labour market in the country.

Global numbers provided by Freelancer.com state 9 million users of its system worldwide, mainly freelancers in India, USA, Bangladesh, Brazil and Argentina. All these are markets with good internet access.
Siseles establishes that “Today, only 32% of the entire world’s population is connected to the internet. There still exist 5.000 million people who are not connected, and, as long as that digital gap is overcome, more people will be able to earn profits with it”.

According to Eurostat, Spain is one of the countries in Europe with the largest number of freelancers, with an increase over the past year of 2, 5% against the 0, 2% which is Europe’s average.

The freelance work portal Adtriboo recently determined that independent Spanish workers in average is male, between 26 to 35 years old and with a professional experience of over 5 years. Most requested jobs are those related to creative development and video production (20%). They are followed by development and programing of apps for mobile devices (14, 2%), editing and translation of text and articles (12, 7%) and design specialists (11, 5%).

Employment portal laborum.com detected that in Chile between January 2012 and October 2013, over 28 thousand job offers were created for freelancers, among which areas such as telecommunication and consulting reached 67% of the demand.

“Out of these, executives and analysts are the sort of profiles where freelancers are most demanded, reaching up to 60% of the preferences” explains the company.

Apparently, the tendency is not stopping: for 2020, “millennials” o Y generation members, shall represent 46% of the workforce globally and, differently that the generation previous them, they are not satisfied with traditional jobs from 9 to 5, nor with conservative hierarchical structures.

“These people value flexibility and freedom of choice, therefore, there are more and more of them entering the labour world by choosing an independent job, showing that being freelance is a completely serious and viable option” says Rajeev Jeyakumar, co-founder of Skillbridge platform, an online market that connects corporative projects with qualified freelancers.

MINIMUM CONDITIONS

Sebastian Reyes, director of the headhunting company DNA Human Capital, restates the tendency, betting on the increase of freelance work to benefit specially women, who currently see their labour possibilities restrained when combining them with maternity.

“There already exist many jobs that may be performed remotely, particularly in regional projects. What we have seen is that companies aim to reduce costs and increase competitiveness and freelance work, for a determinate time, usually is the option with best acceptance” he indicates.

Besides, companies search for the best possible labour profile to work with. He adds that “if we have the candidate that, because of the company’s profile, has a correct fit, the position may be developed freelance.”

That was the case for industrial civil engineer, Ricardo Diaz, aged 51, who works as a freelancer for companies from Panama since 2009, due to the local acceptance of the Chilean professional profile.

With wide experience in the infrastructure, environment and transport sectors, Diaz chose this option when noticing that the local labour scenery was unfavourable and attending to his own needs to spend more time with his family.

“At the beginning I had to travel a lot to build up confidence and get to know well the terrain, as adaptation to the local culture is neither quick nor easy. But from 2012 on, I have only travel once a year, thanks to the communication possibilities that mobile technology provides. To be honest, I do miss the professional environment that exists within an office, but, on the other side, all the spare time I have I can spend it with my family, and that certainly is an advantage”, he says.

The professional advises that it is important to be covered in legal and banking aspects, to ease management issues. “I have one contract in Panama and another in Chile, which allows me to have protection in both countries. I also have an international checking account, to receive payment made in dollars. As I have no periodic wage, I developed a saving system to be able to live in the long term” he explains.

NOT EVERYTHING IS PERFECT

The recent collapse of Obama’s administration health program, the Obamacare, contains frightening data for American independent workers: they represent the largest part of workforce currently loosing the health insurances due to the reform, as insurance companies are terminating contracts of those people whose guarantees do not meet the new law’s standards.

But that is not the only problem these workers must face nowadays.

Freelancers are also in a legal struggle which is being developed in 30 states of the USA, due to misclassification of freelance or independent work.

According to a research of MBO Partners, almost 18 millions independent workers will earn around 1,2 trillion dollars this years, but some control offices state that the scheme of making employees figure as contractors save millions of dollars to companies, depriving the government of relevant tax incomes but also encouraging exploitation of workers.

Besides stating that freelance work has its limits, as certain jobs due to their nature may only be performed in person, Sebatian Reyes stresses the need for self-discipline to work.

“In addition, remote supervision is different, timings are different, virtual meetings do not have the same impact that face-to-face meetings. Ultimately, there are also certain companies which value fulltime in person work”, he says.

Alvaro Vargas, from trabajando.com, indicates that his company usually makes recommendations to those who are or aim to be freelance workers, so that they learn to lead their condition the best way possible.

These advices are connected to optimizing their networks, elaborating database of companies that might be interested in their work and they must try to keep previous clients informed of new things they might be interested in.

“It is important to create an updated portfolio with their best works to ease hiring. Another relevant point is to keep informed about important subjects, knowing what companies demand and may need either in the short or the long term: continuous formation is needed to be always at the vanguard. Freelancers must also be very organized regarding their time-schedules, know how much they are worth, how much they must charge and no be discouraged during times of labour downturn”, he declares

This column was originally published in americaeconomia.com