The Coronavirus has stopped many plans for this promising year. In a week everything stopped, clients froze and brands were silenced. It's a critical moment for freelancers, they can be prepared for all kinds of situations and crises but no one was prepared for a pandemic. What do you do when an entire industry stops?
With the situation improving gradually and the stores reopening al over Europe, the brands are rehiring their employees, but they have not returned to 100% of their capacities, these brands don't want to commit too much and they hire mostly part-time employees. Many people are unemployed with rents to pay, barely surviving the month and this return to work, although better than nothing, does not lead to a brighter path either.
With all this situation and the change in the mentality of the people, it estimates that by the end of the 2020s more than half of the country will be freelance. This is becouse many of the current employees are beginning to reconsider their work situation, their career paths and dependence on other companies (which in most cases don't care too much about their employees.)
The fashion industry has been relaying on freelancers for a long time, from makeup artists, stylists, planners, journalists, photographers to designers, assistants, social managers, seamstresses and a long list with a lot of interesting jobs, to drive this industry forward and help us grow improving and empowering each other. It is a very diverse and active world that is always looking for something new, striking, innovative and freelancers are those types of people, they are not tied to a conventional schedules, they risk their careers, they seek their way and that is one of the reasons of why the fashion industry is so diverse and interesting.
With the pandemic and the change in the mind of the consumer and his priorities there will be many more opportunities for freelancers, with the possibility of working remotely also being added becouse of its flexibility. The UK government has created programs to help the self-employed who otherwise could not have re-emerged from this crisis, a small benefit amidst all this surge of anxiety. Obviously this situation does not change from one day to the next and it will take years to improve the situation for freelancers, but in this pandemic, society has realized the vulnerability suffered by many self-employed and is putting pressure on companies that rely heavily on freelancers to improve their conditions and rights.
Businesses will have to reinvent themselves, be more flexible with the system as they will change from having many full-time workers to an ever-increasing number of freelancers.
By Aliya Akhunova