You’ve been working hard over the past few months. Meeting work deadlines by day and learning to code by night. Between your 9-5 and time spent brushing up on your skills, you’ve lost touch with what it feels like to have free time – but your design portfolio certainly isn’t complaining. All of this, just to prepare yourself to go freelance. So when are you finally going to commit?
Why Are So Many People Turning To Freelancing?
People around the world are increasingly turning to freelancing. In the U.S. alone some 53 million people, or 34 percent of the workforce, freelance, up from 42.6 million in 2004. In the U.K. 4.6 million professionals, or 14 percent of the workforce, are freelancing, up from 3.9 million in 2008.
What’s driving workers to go independent? There are plenty of reasons why people are breaking away from their office jobs, not the least of which is the ability to ditch the office suit (and occasionally work in their pyjamas). Here are just a few benefits driving our students here at CareerFoundry to leave their office jobs in order to become freelancers:
- A flexible work schedule
- Control over their salary
- Opportunity to make a name for themselves in their field
- Ability to learn a vast amount in a short time
- Freedom to work from anywhere, be it the beach, the train – or even thousands of meters above sea level in a hang glider (note: CareerFoundry does not condone coding while soaring through the air)
Are these benefits essential to your work-life balance? Do you see yourself succeeding as your own boss? Are you ready to go it alone?