Why freelancing careers aren't for everyone

Many believe that having a freelancing career in the creative industry is a dream come true.

Imagine not being stifled by the rigid rules and regulations of being tied to one company, or the freedom to do the work you want, where you want it.

But like all jobs, it’s something you can grow tired of too.

Natasha Natarajan, an Indian national and freelancing veteran, knows this feeling well. 

“Before joining my master’s programme, I was a freelancer for seven years,” says Natarajan. “At that point, I was running my own business, Chikaboo Designs, an arts business that plans and deliver creative projects and events, but I was growing tired of the freelancing lifestyle.”

While most associate a freelancing career with its bountiful benefits, as we’ve previously mentioned, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows.

The biggest hurdle is dealing with the lack of stability — it could take years to build up the necessary connections to secure regular work and pay, which means you could spend most of your early career working around the clock. There are no paid vacations, corporate benefits or insurance too. 

Perhaps the worst is that freelance burnout is a thing.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) classifies “occupational” burnout as “feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and reduced professional efficacy.”

In 2022, ReclaimAi, an AI-powered scheduling app, found that 42.9% of freelancers were burnt out from long workdays, while 64.3% were burnt out from the lack of work-life balance or insufficient time off — proof that controlling your schedule as a freelancer is often romanticised.

The report revealed that executives worked on an average of 51.2-hour workweeks, equating to over 170 additional hours above the average employee, or 536 extra hours each year over the standard 40-hour workweek.

Despite the high percentage of freelance burnout, there are an estimated 1.57 billion freelancers out of the 3.38 billion global workforce, according to the World Bank.

By 2028, it’s predicted that there will be 90.1 million freelancers in the US alone, according to Statista. 

Why freelancing careers are as popular as ever

Freedom

Having a freelancing career means that you’ll have a higher level of freedom compared to regular traditional jobs.

You’ll have the space to select clients or projects that align with your interest and set your rates — by project, hour, or month. All these can make your job profoundly fulfilling and rewarding, build confidence and personal growth, and motivate you to be more productive.

Flexibility

The 9-to-5 job is no longer a want from many because the day doesn’t start at 9:00 a.m. but sometimes hours before that. One major component of it includes the time it takes to travel to the office — something most companies don’t take into account 

Being able to work remotely means freelancers have more time to allocate to other matters, be it a dentist appointment or a visit to their elderly parents. It would also mean you can freely travel wherever you wish and bring your work along with you if necessary — no need to apply for any paid time off and anxiously await your manager’s approval. 

Zero office politics

Office politics comes in all shapes and sizes: micromanaging, goat-scaping, undermining trust, information hoarding, or credit-stealing. When employees get overwhelmed or come into contact with office politics, stress and disengagement are often the results.

A Gallup study revealed that 41% of employees leave jobs due to poor office engagement and culture.

Being a freelancer means you can avoid this almost entirely. Your work will mostly be with one individual, such as a project manager. This setup will allow you to focus more on your work without a distraction.

Jobs are starting to lack job security

9-to-5 jobs have been a way to receive a steady paycheck while offering job security, but in recent years, it’s beginning to be something that many are trying to steer away from.

Sixty-five percent of independent workers or freelancers agree that working for themselves makes them feel secure, based on a survey conducted by MBO Partners, a consumer services, advertising and marketing, and business services company. Even 31% of those with traditional jobs believe working independently is less risky than permanent employment.

There’s a good reason for that. In 2024, there have been over 137,000 layoffs in the tech field, the second-highest year since 2020.

For freelance veteran Natarajan, however, it was the opposite. She yearned to have a more stable job and higher pay. To achieve this, she believed that pursuing a postgraduate degree was the way to go.

Life as a master’s student after freelancing for 7 years

When it came time to pursue a master’s degree, attending SOAS’s Master of Arts in Global Creative and Cultural Industries was a no-brainer for Natarajan.

Aside from already being based in London, Natarajan had graduated from SOAS with a Bachelor’s in History in 2013, and her memories there were good enough that she began exploring the postgraduate options at the school

“I was surprised to find a creative industries degree that perfectly matched my interest; it had a great balance of theory and practice, and the access to the general School of Arts modules provided so much variety in content,” she says.  

“I loved the focus on the political economy of culture. There weren’t any other programmes at the time that matched my varying interests, especially given SOAS’s unique specialisation in cultures of the Global South.”

By the midpoint of her master’s degree, however, Natarajan grew anxious over her career prospects post-graduation. 

That was when she chose a module called “Directed Study in Industry,” a module that enables students to undertake work placements in relevant creative industries and develop personal entrepreneurial projects. 

“During this module, I reflected deeply on my freelance journey and started appreciating my experience while attending career-related events, writing job applications, and even organising career events for our department,” Natarajan shares.

This, alongside attending lectures on labour politics of the creative industries and reading about the political economy of culture, led her to write her dissertation, “Freelance Creatives.” Through it, she explored topics including critiques of entrepreneurialism, specifically the idea of “Creative Entrepreneurship,” and the precarity of freelance labour in the cultural industries.

By the end of her programme, Natarajan had sharpened her skills and had even secured a job prior to her graduation. 

“While researching for my dissertation, my case study was a worker-owned cooperative, Outlandish, in North London”, says Natarajan. “It just so happened they had a freelance events coordinator position open, and I got the job before I even submitted my dissertation.”

After graduating in September 2022, Natarajan became an events and partnerships coordinator at Outlandish’s project SPACE4.

In June 2024, she became a co-owner of the cooperative, where she owns and runs the business with four other individuals.

“If it were not for SOAS and the freedom to explore during my master’s degree, I would not have known about this cooperative,” shares Natarajan.