Business

Working 9-to-5 Becoming a Less Popular Way to Make a Living

Published

9 years ago

June 3, 2015

In this May 26, 2015 photo, freelance web designer Henry Brown cycles around his neighborhood in the Lower East Side of New York. Brown ditched his fledging advertising career 11 years ago, sick of spending 15 hours a day at work and having no time for himself. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

JOSEPH PISANI, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — If you want an income, or you’re an employer looking for help, it may be time to scrap the idea of the traditional 9-to-5 arrangement.

For workers, it’s become easier and less risky to go solo. Affordable health insurance plans, which kept many workers shackled to traditional jobs, are more accessible because of the Affordable Care Act. And companies are increasingly open to hiring freelancers and independent contractors. Many say independent workers bring fresh ideas without the long-term commitment.

An industry dedicated to serving the companies that offer freelance and contract work and the people who fill those openings is growing. Gigs can be found at a number of websites, such as Upwork.com and Freelancer.com, or through hiring services that connect professional freelancers and companies. And companies that provide shared rented office space, such as WeWork, lets freelancers mingle with fellow contractors.

In 2013, 23 million people were self-employed, according the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s up 1.2 percent from the year before and up about 24 percent from 2003. That number doesn’t count self-employed people who may also hire employees.

“This isn’t going away,” says Brooke Borgen, co-owner of Canopy Advisory Group, a hiring company for freelancers in Denver. She started the business five years ago with co-owner Griffen O’Shaughnessy. They observed that companies needed a way to access independent workers while friends and colleagues were telling them they wanted to find ways to balance their work and personal lives. “More and more people want to have ownership over their career,” Borgen says.

Henry W. Brown ditched his fledging advertising career 11 years ago, sick of spending 15 hours a day at work and having “no life.” Now he works 30 hours a week, juggling about four projects a year and earns a salary in the six figures designing websites and apps. Brown has time for two-hour yoga sessions, midday bike rides around his New York City neighborhood and lunch dates with friends. He also has more time for passion projects: He spent a month at an elephant sanctuary in Thailand this year, and he started a Facebook page called TheDogmatic, posting photos of dogs in shelters to help get them adopted. He never plans to work for just one employer again.

“Everything about an office was such a waste of time to me,” he says.

When Brown first went freelance, he emailed companies asking for work. Now, most comes from referrals. Sometimes he checks in with a hiring agency. “I’m not clamoring for work,” says Brown. “I can be picky and choosy with what I do.”

Depending on the industry, the work can be lucrative. At hiring company Business Talent Group, independent contractors can make between $1,500 and $2,500 a day, says CEO Jody Miller. Most have a master’s degree and at least 10 years working experience, she says. They can be hired by companies to help launch new products, research investments or other tasks.

Companies weren’t always so thrilled about hiring freelancers, says Allison Hemming, CEO of New York staffing company The Hired Guns. When she started the company 15 years ago, companies would say, “if they were that good they would have a job,” says Hemming. That’s changed. “The concept of freelancers as slackers is completely over,” Hemming says.

Spex, a company that makes software and apps used for home inspections, turned to Canopy Advisory Group to find a part-time publicist. CEO Brett Goldberg says he didn’t have to post a job description, sift through resumes or conduct interviews, saving him time and money.

At food company Cargill, Michael Balay hires independent contractors with specialized skills to manage projects, such as combining groups of workers inside the company. Balay, who is a vice president of strategy and business development, has increasingly turned to hiring agencies.

“It cuts the search and qualification time down,” says Balay. “It’s way easier now.”

Stephen Wunker left a consulting firm in 2009 to spend more time with his kids. Wunker and his partners started New Markets Advisors and are hired by companies to come up with business plans or create a growth strategy. He still works 40 to 80 hours a week, but his schedule is more flexible. He can take days off whenever he wants, and also spends about a month a year working from Ecuador.

“I have a dramatically better lifestyle,” he says.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

Published

11 hours ago

April 19, 2024

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Business

V.P. Kamala Harris: Americans With Criminal Records Will Soon Be Eligible for SBA Loans

Speaking in Las Vegas on Jan. 27, Vice President Kamala Harris announced a forthcoming federal rule that will extend access to Small Business Administration (SBA) loans to Americans who have been convicted of felonies but have served their time. Small business owners typically apply for the SBA loans to start or sustain their businesses.

Published

3 days ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

On her daylong trip, Harris was joined by Horford, SBA Administrator Isabella Guzman, Interim Under Secretary of Commerce for Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Eric Morrissette, and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev).

By California Black Media

Small business owners typically apply for the SBA loans to start or sustain their businesses.

Harris thanked U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV-04), the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, for the work he has done in Washington to support small businesses and to invest in people.

“He and I spent some time this afternoon with business leaders and small business leaders here in Nevada. The work you have been doing to invest in community and to invest in the ambition and natural capacity of communities has been exceptional,” Harris said, speaking to a crowd of a few hundred people at the Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Hall in East Las Vegas.

“Formerly incarcerated individuals face significant barriers to economic opportunity once they leave prison and return to the community, with an unemployment rate among the population of more than 27%,” the White House press release continued. “Today’s announcement builds on the Vice President’s work to increase access to capital. Research finds that entrepreneurship can reduce recidivism for unemployed formerly incarcerated individuals by as much as 30%.”

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G.O.P. Lawmakers: Repeal AB 5 and Resist Nationalization of “Disastrous” Contractor Law

Published

3 days ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

File Photo: Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City)

By California Black Media

Republican lawmakers gathered outside of the Employee Development Department in Sacramento on Jan. 23 to call for the repeal of AB5, the five-year old California law that reclassified gig workers and other independent contractors as W-2 employees under the state’s labor code.
Organizers said they also held the rally to push back against current efforts in Washington to pass a similar federal law.

“We are here to talk about this very important issue – a battle we have fought for many years – to stop this disastrous AB 5 policy,” said Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City).
Now, that threat has gone national as we have seen this new rule being pushed out of the Biden administration,” Gallagher continued.

On Jan. 10, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a new rule providing guidance on “on how to analyze who is an employee or independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).”
“This final rule rescinds the Independent Contractor Status Under the Fair Labor Standards Act rule (2021 IC Rule), that was published on January 7, 2021, and replaces it with an analysis for determining employee or independent contractor status that is more consistent with the FLSA as interpreted by longstanding judicial precedent,” a Department of Labor statement reads.
U.S. Congressmember Kevin Kiley (R-CA-3), who is a former California Assemblymember, spoke at the rally.

“We are here today to warn against the nationalization of one of the worst laws that has ever been passed in California, which has devastated the livelihoods of folks in over 600 professions,” said Kiley, adding that the law has led to a 10.5% decline in self-employment in California.

Kiley blamed U.S Acting Secretary of Labor, July Su, who was the former secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, for leading the effort to redefine “contract workers” at the federal level.
Kiley said two separate lawsuits have been filed against Su’s Rule – its constitutionality and the way it was enacted, respectively. He said he is also working on legislation in Congress that puts restrictions on the creation and implementation of executive branch decisions like Su’s.
Assemblymember Kate Sanchez (R-Rancho Santa Margarita) announced that she plans to introduce legislation to repeal AB 5 during the current legislative session.

“So many working moms like myself, who are also raising kids, managing households, were devastated by the effects of AB 5 because they lost access to hundreds of flexible professions,” Sanchez continued. “I’ve been told by many of these women that they have lost their livelihoods as bookkeepers, artists, family caregivers, designers, and hairstylists because of this destructive law.”