Most Jobs Now Are (and Will Be) Freelance Jobs

We are pleased to offer you this full-time job as a Senior Product Manager at Company X. Your annual salary is ____, and your start date is _____.

I used to hear that full-time employee (FTE) jobs were the way to go. You are normally safe from layoffs, the last to be cut, and you get lots of perks.?

I preferred contracting and freelancing. I heard a lot of crap about it. I had to (in the USA) pay for my own health insurance, cover a lot of my own costs, and I could be the first to be let go. I didn’t get paid days off. My project and job might disappear overnight when a budget was cut, which happened more than once.

But I took those jobs because:

• I liked them.
• I didn’t mind what others perceived as instability.
• This was a time when I was in demand. If one job ended, another found me often within a few weeks.
• I was paid well.

In late 2024, every job is a freelance job.

Gone are the days when a full-time employee job was very stable.?

• It’s not guaranteed.?
• Anybody can be laid off for any reason.?
• Companies that would like to do fewer layoffs suddenly change their policies. Get back in the office X days! No working from home. Anybody who doesn’t move to This City will be laid off. We changed our standards, and we’re putting lots of people on Performance Improvement Plans. These things are sometimes designed to make people quit before they’re fired or laid off. Companies love announcing fewer layoffs.

“Constructive Dismissal” refers to when an employer intentionally creates a hostile or unpleasant work environment in the hopes that the employee will quit voluntarily, allowing the employer to avoid the costs and procedures associated with a formal layoff. (Definition from Claude.ai )

Companies have too many ways to get rid of you with little or no notice, and little or no?cause.

Miro laid off 18% or 275 people globally on 30 October?2024.

This was after pushing workers very hard for a year. They redesigned the interface and introduced a mountain of new features, especially AI-related tools. Some reported working extra hours to get these done and meet deadlines.

Miro’s entire strategy revolves around these new features. Yet they let go of some people who were key to the strategy and vision. Miro will continue to see that strategy and vision through, but I guess we didn’t need the amazing people who formed them, planned them, and pushed teams to start achieving them.

And that’s how they were rewarded. Shameful. But it’s hardly surprising from a company whose new features include AI that pretends to be your tech co-workers. Maybe they’re eating their own dog food.

Miro’s big 2024 event, Canvas 24, was on 8 October, just weeks before the layoff. Have everybody get everything ready for our big event, and then cut them.

The laid-off workers might as well have been contractors.?

The project ended, and thanks, but we don’t need you anymore. Thanks for your strategy, vision, organization, planning, and work, and for making us look awesome at a variety of 2024 launch events.

This was normal in my contractor days. You worked normal or extra hours for weeks, months, or longer so that a company could produce something good or great. When that project is done, or the budget is gone, so are you.?

Many jobs will be freelance and contract?jobs.

Consider this from a company’s point of view. Companies appear to want to:

• Hire and fire us as they want, even somewhat randomly. Grab someone for a project, let them go when the project is over, the priority changes, or the budget is cut.
• Pay us as little as possible with as few benefits as possible. Freelancers and contractors are usually offered no perks or benefits.?
• Be uninterested in the employee experience. Freelancers and contractors are rarely given promotions, exit interviews, anniversary celebrations, or other elements that might make them feel like they’re part of something with longevity.
• Save money. Companies don’t have to pay workers’ comp and other insurances, taxes, etc. on freelancers or contractors. Freelancers often use their equipment, which means fewer computers and other equipment to purchase.

Side benefit: companies can stop pretending that culture?matters.?

It’ll be clear that they just want people to come and go as needed. Teams will be assembled and disassembled quickly, agency-style. Culture won’t matter.

Where you work won’t matter, but companies probably won’t admit to that last one until their leases are up and they can start saving more money by closing offices. Then suddenly you’ll find companies believing in more remote work.

What can you do? Be prepared. Plan. Take action or be ready to take?action.

The amount of time we’ll work for any company is unknown and more out of our control than ever. What should we do about this?

• Save as much money as you can. It’s taking longer than ever to find the next job. The more of a cushion you have, the less scary this can be. Consider what expenses you can reduce or cut to put away more savings while you earn.
• Consider negotiating health insurance. If you get an FTE job, see if they will raise the salary if you decline their health insurance (I’m talking to you, Americans). I’ve done this in the past. This allows you to choose your insurance and have it consistently. Same doctors, same system, and not keep changing it. I wouldn’t make it a deal breaker, but I used to prefer getting more cash and choosing my insurance (and sticking with it no matter what job I was at).
• Keep your resume/CV/portfolio updated and ready to go. These are sometimes overwhelming projects when you haven’t looked at them in a while. Keep them updated. Take notes about your work as you go. If you get let go, you’ll have a story ready to tell. Remember that you can’t show confidential work, but you can screenshot anything public or non-confidential.
• Don’t accept work that exchanges salary/cash for future rewards. Some companies might dangle stock, equity, bonuses, or other things as part of your pay package. But if you are laid off, will you still get these? Sometimes, the stock doesn’t vest, and you have no rights to the equity. You might not get a bonus, or your contract might say you must repay it because you weren’t with the company long enough. Be careful!
• Don’t turn down freelance or contract work. It’s not so different than FTE work anymore. Just make sure you’re doing the math since freelancers and contractors tend to take on more expenses and tax burdens themselves. You don’t want to find out later you didn’t charge enough to make ends meet.

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