Poll: Have you encountered bias against freelancers (vs. full-time employees)? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you encountered bias against freelancers (vs. full-time employees)?".
View the poll results »
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I've been both a full-time employee and a freelancer. I never encountered any bias.
| | | | | The opposite | Jan 20, 2019 |
I think clients appreciate a professional who is in full charge of the work, working directly with the client and able to ensure quality with nothing getting in the way. As a customer in other areas, that is what I tend to look for and feel lucky when I can find it. That is in contrast to large faceless companies where employees don't really have much of a say.
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Maybe some degree of professional envy: one of my daughters envied my freedom until she decided to enter the freelancer’s world and realized that it also has a few negatives. Like Muriel, I know well both worlds and at my age I prefer by far being a freelancer…
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Ricki Farn
Germany
Local time: 21:36
English to German
| Yes, socially | Jan 20, 2019 |
I have been told to my face, in front of an audience, that I am obviously unemployable, which is why I have to be a freelancer.
Joke's on them - living well is the best revenge.
| | | | Maja_K 
Germany
Local time: 21:36
Member (2013)
English to Macedonian
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Ricki Farn wrote:
I have been told to my face, in front of an audience, that I am obviously unemployable, which is why I have to be a freelancer.
Joke's on them - living well is the best revenge.
Would you explain a bit more about this situation? I mean, it's a harsh thing to say for someone they are "obviously unemployable", why did someone say that to you?
| | | | Jan Truper
Germany
Local time: 21:36
Member (2016)
English to German
From banks and a car dealership, in regards to credit worthiness...
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I find that some companies or agencies try to get away with paying freelancers a lot less than they should be entitled to, justifying their attitude by using excuses such as a freelancer doesn't have to buy gas to get to an office, have an expensive wardrobe, and other similar, untenable points of view.
I'm glad I don't work for any of THEM!
[Edited at 2019-01-20 19:25 GMT]
[Edited at 2019-01-20 19:26 GMT]
[Edited at 2019-01-20 19:26 GMT]
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Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 16:36
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
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Luckily, my family does not seem to think I'm unemployed because I'm a freelancer. At least they don't mention it.
But I've heard too many colleagues complain about that, so I realize it's an actual issue.
| | | | Ricki Farn
Germany
Local time: 21:36
English to German
Maja_K wrote:
Would you explain a bit more about this situation? I mean, it's a harsh thing to say for someone they are "obviously unemployable", why did someone say that to you?
Actually, that was three situations -
twice people bragged (in offline group conversations) about having got tenured employment and explicitly pointed out that I had not achieved that feat. I am pretty sure they were both (separately and in different university departments) butthurt because my grades had been better than theirs. Especially as it's no secret that I have never applied for any sort of tenured job in my life.
And once I approached a social worker I knew privately, telling him that certain neighbours were neglecting their children due to their (the parents') alcoholism and asking how I could get help for the children. The social worker replied that as a freelancer, I was obviously unemployable and therefore not in any position to criticise those neighbours, and he made sure to repeat the entire conversation to a large group of people online later. I wasn't actually attempting to criticise my neighbours, I don't care about how people spend their lives, I was trying to make sure that some small humans got adequate food and clothes. Which I have since achieved, because I happen to have a job that equips me for researching information^^
What I have learned is that if people want to lash out at you, they will use anything they know about you and use it as they please. If I wasn't a freelancer, they would find something else. So does that even count as a bias against freelancers?
But talking of an actual bias against freelancers, I have found that if I tell a doctor I don't need a sick note because I'm a freelancer, the amount of diligence and resourcefulness they invest in treating me instantly drops to nearly zero. Somehow the idea of a third-party employer who wants their employee back, seems to be far more important than the well-being of a self-employed person.
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