
Image by Peter Alfred Hess (License CC BY-SA 2.0)
Full time jobs are disappearing at alarming rates, across dozens of industries. Some are being replaced by robots, but more are being replaced by part time positions and freelance gigs. Almost all the job growth in Canada in 2016 was in part time jobs, and the numbers are similar all around the world.
As a freelancer by choice, people often think this is good for me. After all, they say, isn’t there more work for you than ever before? Isn’t this the kind of economy you thrive on? It’s entirely based around the type of work you do!
When I started freelancing (and I was still in school), I had a similar attitude. I believed the gig economy would work in my favor. I also believed that, as a writer, I was better prepared to enter the gig economy than most of my peers.
Only one of those things turned out to be true. I am more at peace with the freelance cycle of feast and famine than many of my peers, both because I chose it and because I grew up in poverty. But I’m not really better off when it comes to finding work.
Today I would like to show you why.