'It's exhausting': the many career challenges facing freelancers

Analysis: Cultural, media and creative industries rely heavily on freelancers, but there are downsides to this form of working life

By Heidi Ashton, University of Warwick

If you’re a freelancer, you know there are many perks to how you make a living. For some, this includes being free to work when and how you please, setting your own rates, and being your own boss. But you also know there are downsides to this form of working life. And if you’re plotting your path towards going freelance, you’ll want to consider both the good and the bad aspects.

While some people want to work on a freelance basis, others – by virtue of the industry they are in – have less choice. The cultural and creative industries rely heavily on a flexible, skilled freelance workforce. Many of these freelancers work from project to project with no single workplace, which can lead to challenges.

Over the last decade or so, I have researched freelance work and freelance workers in the cultural and creative industries, examining their experiences and understanding how these are shaped by structural and political forces.

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From RTÉ 2fm’s Louise McSharry Show in 2021, profile of Minding Creative Minds, an organisation providing free 24/7 support, from legal assistance to life coaching, to anyone who needs it within the creative industries

Freelancers often rely on their reputation or word-of-mouth to gain future work. This can be helpful: a good reputation can lead to recommendations and repeat work. Equally, it can mean that freelancers do not always report poor practices and behaviour, especially early in their career. “You don’t want to be seen as a troublemaker,” a freelancer in my ongoing research said in 2023.

Reports on creative industry sub-sectors such as in TV, film and theatre show that freelancers are unlikely to speak out when facing or witnessing bullying behaviour. “People are frightened to reveal themselves, because they think they’ll be blacklisted and won’t get jobs if they report bullies at work,” film director Brian Hill has explained.

What’s more, the labour markets in which freelancers work can include multiple layers of hidden hierarchy. Freelancers and sub-contractors can be employed to hire the freelancers below them. This may make it extremely difficult to report up to managers who could take appropriate action, even when the problematic behaviour relates to protected characteristics such as race, disability or pregnancy. Fear of causing trouble, coupled with the need to please, can also lead to exploitation.

Facing exploitation

Despite the practice being technically illegal, many freelance workers in the cultural and creative sectors do work for free. This is either to get a foot in the door, or to please those employing them by doing additional work.

Freelancers often also wait long periods for payment – or may end up not being paid for their work at all. “Late, delayed and non-payments mean I am generally out of pocket for the work that I do,” one freelancer told me.

Unions can be very helpful in these cases, but the intensely competitive nature of this kind of work can also mean workers take lower fees initially, hoping they will increase.

Careers and wellbeing

Unlike structured employment, where workers can have access to training and opportunities for promotion either within or between organisations, freelance workers often have less clearcut means for progression.

“You have to take the work that’s there at whatever level it is. You can risk turning something down and waiting for something better but then you could end up with nothing,” a freelancer I spoke to for my PhD research said.

It can be difficult for freelancers to build contacts at higher levels, particularly when the person employing them directly is also a freelancer and therefore may perceive any relationship building above them as a threat to their future employment.

The accumulated impact on mental health can be significant

A common area of concern for young freelancers is the precarity and financial insecurity of their work. They may need to juggle multiple jobs and roles. Freelancers also lack holiday pay or regular working hours, as well as support for periods of under-employment. This can lead to increased stress and burnout for those who do not have other means of financial support. “I have multiple side-hustles … It’s exhausting,” one freelancer said.

The accumulated impact on mental health can be significant. The Film and TV Charity, an independent charity for those working behind the scenes, found that 64% of workers in the sector were considering leaving due to poor mental health – with freelancers and younger age groups particularly vulnerable.

Having a mentor or someone who genuinely wants to support you and your career can help, as do communities of workers and unions providing support of various kinds. Anonymous reporting can be used to hold people and organisations to account for poor behaviour.

For many of the freelancers I work with, though, it’s worth it. There’s a collective sense that, although it’s tough, they wouldn’t want to do any other job.

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Heidi Ashton is Associate professor at the University of Warwick. This article was originally published by The Conversation.

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ