THE GIG IS UP
The future’s in freelancing as businesses cope with Covid shake-up
Redundancy didn’t come as a surprise to Anendra Singh. ‘‘To be honest, I had seen it coming for a while,’’ the former Hawke’s Bay Today sports editor said.
‘‘The way the media industry has been going, the falling revenue from advertising, I was actually surprised it took so long.’’
Singh was among 200 people made redundant by NZME in April as the media company tightened its belt in response to the Covid-19 downturn.
The job cuts came shortly after Bauer Media closed its New Zealand publications, with the loss of 237 full-time jobs.
Like NZME, Bauer cited the impact of the coronavirus pandemic as the major factor in its closure.
Married and with two adult children, Singh said he is in a much more comfortable position than many Kiwis out of work due to the pandemic.
‘‘My wife is still working but even if she wasn’t, I think we’d be OK. That won’t be true for a lot of people.’’
Fiji-born Singh started his career at The Fiji Times, where he covered the 1987 and subsequent coups in Suva.
After moving to New Zealand, he worked for the Otago Daily Times and Northern Advocate before settling in Central Hawke’s Bay more than 20 years ago.
‘‘I took up journalism because I was passionate about creating stories and evoking emotion in readers,’’ he said.
‘‘I consider myself very lucky to have had a journalism career that I enjoyed for as long as I did.’’
Although his long-term plan is to get into organic farming, Singh is looking for freelance work in the meantime.
‘‘There’s so much uncertainty about how this is all going to play out, so we’re not making any big decisions at the moment.
‘‘I’ve put my hand up to do some writing, to keep me mentally engaged. When you’ve been in a job for decades, it’s hard to just switch that off and walk away.’’
Those in the know say Singh will be far from alone, with the freelance market in for a shake-up and massive growth after the lockdown.
According to the Survey of Working Life in 2018, about 144,000 New Zealanders work as selfemployed contractors or freelancers, just over 5 per cent of the workforce.
Content writer Erin Harrison has 10 years’ experience as a freelancer and said the number of people looking for freelance ‘‘gigs’’ is set to surge as people and businesses regroup.
Like Singh, many other Kiwis now unexpectedly out of work will have spent years honing their creative skills, she said.
‘‘People want to work and if they have a solid set of skills in a field they enjoy, whether it’s writing, graphic design, web development or photography, they’ll want to keep doing that.
‘‘They might not be able to find a full-time, permanent job but freelancing can offer an alternative.’’
Harrison said many businesses will be reassessing their operations after the lockdown and changes will be inevitable for many.
However, there is likely to be hesitation around hiring permanent staff to help with business transformation during such an uncertain time.
‘‘Some businesses are going to discover their marketing needs work, or they need to ramp up their social media, but they can’t afford to take someone on permanently to do it,’’ she said.
‘‘By using a freelancer, they can get the work done with a lower outlay.’’
Harrison, founder of online community The Freelance Village, said businesses were more likely to be open to using freelancers after seeing how successfully people had worked from home during lockdown.
‘‘There’s not so much fear of people working remotely anymore or that perception that perhaps if somebody works away from the office, they won’t get their work done.’’
The Freelance Village was originally set up to give Kiwis a place to collaborate and share their experiences on the freelance ‘‘rollercoaster’’, similar to communities overseas.
However, it has since grown into a platform for people to promote their services to businesses, with about 60 people from different creative industries registered.
‘‘A lot of businesses don’t know where to start looking for a freelancer so it’s about helping them find good, experienced people in one place.’’
Harrison isn’t the only one with an eye on the freelance market.
Covid-19 gave Dunedin-based web developer Gideon Banks the push he needed to get his own site off the ground.
His site, Needed, launched on Monday and Banks described it as ‘‘like a farmers market, supplying locally-grown talent to businesses’’.
Like Harrison, he said Covid-19 will have shown some businesses just how outdated their practices and models have become.
‘‘The considerable interest and trend towards the ‘gig economy’ is looking more desirable as businesses cut back and the virtual workforce rises,’’ he said.
‘‘For our economy to recover, it’s vital we provide a supportive environment for freelance services and businesses trying to re-establish themselves.’’
Marketing consultant Marijke Timmers, from The Marketing Collective, said similar international sites have a one-size-fits-all approach, not taking into consideration the unique needs of New Zealand businesses and freelancers.
‘‘You’re competing with people all over the world and it seems to be largely driven by price, not expertise, so I’m not convinced it’s providing the best outcomes for businesses,’’ she said.
‘‘At a time where supporting Kiwi
‘‘The considerable interest and trend towards the ‘gig economy’ is looking more desirable as businesses cut back and the virtual workforce rises.’’ Web developer Gideon Banks
businesses is paramount, the localised aspect of Needed will help to build a national groundswell of support for income independence.’’
Timmers said the benefits are mutual when businesses hire local contractors.
‘‘Needed appealed to me because it is all about New Zealand businesses – freelancers – supporting New Zealand businesses and vice versa, but it offers more benefits than just that,’’ she said.
‘‘Having a local marketplace means working in local time zones, it means being able to more easily contact your client during those working hours, and it means being paid in New Zealand dollars.
‘‘From what I’ve experienced, you don’t get all of this from the international marketplaces.’’
Kath Webster, editor of AA Directions, said the quarterly travel magazine depends on freelance writers and photographers. ‘‘There are only two of us employed fulltime on Directions and we have about half a dozen freelancers we use regularly,’’ she said.
‘‘I’ll also often put the call out to a wider group for ideas on a particular theme.’’
As well as making national coverage more efficient, having a pool of editorial talent across the country brought different voices to the publication, Webster said.
‘‘If you have a small permanent workforce, you can miss out on that and find that everything starts to sound the same.’’
In her experience, there were no drawbacks to employing freelance workers and Webster said businesses that might have been hesitant in the past should take the plunge. ‘‘To be cynical about it, and I don’t really have reason to be, if a person just doesn’t ‘get it’, you’re under no obligation to use them again. But freelancers will be trying really hard to get work. ‘‘They’ll want to do a good job, and they’re likely to be willing to try new things.’’