From the US: this report from Forbes makes for interesting reading regarding creatives in staff jobs taking freelance work...EXCLUSIVE: Feeling the brunt of workplace dissatisfaction, a majority of creatives are (secretly)... Read more
From the US: this report from Forbes makes for interesting reading regarding creatives in staff jobs taking freelance work...
EXCLUSIVE: Feeling the brunt of workplace dissatisfaction, a majority of creatives are (secretly) freelancing
A new report by the job posting board for creative workers Working Not Working found that workers in creative fields are increasingly unhappy and dissatisfied with their employer. The result? Secret freelancing.
Global unhappiness and dissatisfaction at work has been widely reported on at this point. Whether it be a cooling economy, fears of recession, the possibility of AI taking away jobs or local and global political events, workers are feeling uninspired and unengaged.
One particular group feeling the brunt of the negativity is full-time creative workers—think copywriters, designers and video editors, among others. In their first annual (Un)Happiness Survey, Working Not Working found that about 75% of employees in creative fields fall between feeling “meh” and miserable about their current work situation.
“Creative people just feel really commoditized,” says Justin Gignac, cofounder and CEO of Working Not Working. Between the pandemic, AI, return-to-office mandates and a tighter job market, “many companies are not aligned with the values and the priorities of their employees, especially their great employees,” he adds.
After rating their happiness by general happiness, company culture, staging power, perceived value of their jobs and additional job perks, 56% of creatives said they’re looking to leave their job within the next year, a little more than the 46% of professional employees surveyed by LinkedIn.
So what are these creative workers turning to in the midst of such unhappiness? Freelancing. It marks a shift toward stability in full-time jobs after the pandemic, says Gignac. But tightening budgets, massive layoffs and overall satisfaction with their employers has led quite a number of creatives to return to freelancing, at least part-time. The report found that 65% of employees are freelancing outside of work, while 50% of them are keeping it a secret from their full-time employers.
“A lot of it just stems from distrust,” explains Nicolina Jennings, vice-president and managing director of Working Not Working. Many creatives, she says “feel like maybe their company doesn’t have their best interest in mind. For creative people especially, the idea that you may be giving your good ideas away to somebody else is a big threat.”
But it also comes down to feeding creativity. Creatives are becoming more multidisciplinary, says Jennings, especially in the younger worker population.
“Freelancing and trying out new skills lets them feel like they’re contributing to all these aspects of what makes them creative that maybe a single company doesn’t understand how to fully utilize yet,” she adds.
EXCLUSIVE: Feeling the brunt of workplace dissatisfaction, a majority of creatives are (secretly) freelancing
A new report by the job posting board for creative workers Working Not Working found that workers in creative fields are increasingly unhappy and dissatisfied with their employer. The result? Secret freelancing.
Global unhappiness and dissatisfaction at work has been widely reported on at this point. Whether it be a cooling economy, fears of recession, the possibility of AI taking away jobs or local and global political events, workers are feeling uninspired and unengaged.
One particular group feeling the brunt of the negativity is full-time creative workers—think copywriters, designers and video editors, among others. In their first annual (Un)Happiness Survey, Working Not Working found that about 75% of employees in creative fields fall between feeling “meh” and miserable about their current work situation.
“Creative people just feel really commoditized,” says Justin Gignac, cofounder and CEO of Working Not Working. Between the pandemic, AI, return-to-office mandates and a tighter job market, “many companies are not aligned with the values and the priorities of their employees, especially their great employees,” he adds.
After rating their happiness by general happiness, company culture, staging power, perceived value of their jobs and additional job perks, 56% of creatives said they’re looking to leave their job within the next year, a little more than the 46% of professional employees surveyed by LinkedIn.
So what are these creative workers turning to in the midst of such unhappiness? Freelancing. It marks a shift toward stability in full-time jobs after the pandemic, says Gignac. But tightening budgets, massive layoffs and overall satisfaction with their employers has led quite a number of creatives to return to freelancing, at least part-time. The report found that 65% of employees are freelancing outside of work, while 50% of them are keeping it a secret from their full-time employers.
“A lot of it just stems from distrust,” explains Nicolina Jennings, vice-president and managing director of Working Not Working. Many creatives, she says “feel like maybe their company doesn’t have their best interest in mind. For creative people especially, the idea that you may be giving your good ideas away to somebody else is a big threat.”
But it also comes down to feeding creativity. Creatives are becoming more multidisciplinary, says Jennings, especially in the younger worker population.
“Freelancing and trying out new skills lets them feel like they’re contributing to all these aspects of what makes them creative that maybe a single company doesn’t understand how to fully utilize yet,” she adds.
