Make the Season Bright: How Independent Workers Can Beat Holiday Loneliness

The holiday season is upon us!

Twinkling lights and festive gatherings begin. But, for independent workers—freelancers, contractors, and consultants—this time of year can feel a bit lonely. While being self-employed has plenty of perks, without a traditional workplace to call home, you may find yourself on the outside of the workplace festivities and this can be isolating. However, with a little creativity and effort, you can flip the script and make this season a vibrant and joyful time, building connections and creating your own traditions.

Why can the holiday season feel lonely for independent workers?

For starters, you may not receive an invitation to workplace parties. This doesn’t mean your clients or the teams you work with don’t like you. It just means they’re keeping it simple and centered on their traditional workers. However, without a holiday party to attend, you may miss out on the camaraderie and celebratory buzz that comes with being part of an office team. This can make you feel a bit left out and you may find yourself pining for the days when you had a regular job and were part of company traditions.

Next, holiday parties signal the end-of-year slowdown. At this time of year, projects may wind down, emails slow to a trickle, and clients go quiet as they head off for their own celebrations. This lull can potentially leave you feeling unmoored, especially if you thrive on a busy schedule. Additionally, the year end slow down can also impact your budget which can be tough as you watch your family, friends or clients go on a year-end vacation.

Finally, networking looks much different. The holidays are a great time for traditional workers to naturally network and build relationships. They connect easily with their colleagues through office parties, trays of holiday goodies in the lunchroom, and conversations about new year plans by the coffee station.  On the other hand, freelancers, contractors and consultants must actively seek out their own social opportunities during the holidays to keep their networks going. This can feel less celebratory and more like a chore for independent workers.

 So, how can freelancers, contractors and consultants thrive during the holiday season?

Consider hosting your own gathering. Who says you need a workplace to have a holiday party? If you are extraverted, host a get-together for your network of fellow independent workers, clients, or friends. Whether it’s a potluck dinner, a virtual coffee chat, or a festive happy hour, creating your own event gives you something to look forward to and strengthens your connections.

Connect with independent workers in your co-working space. Many co-working spaces host holiday-themed events or provide a space buzzing with activity. You’ll meet other independent workers, enjoy some holiday cheer, and feel part of a community.

Think about volunteering your time. One of the best ways to combat loneliness is to give back. You could volunteer at a local food bank, animal shelter or lend a hand at a toy drive. Not only will you make a difference, but you may also meet like-minded people who share your generous spirit and this can widen your social or professional circle.

Consider creating your own traditions. Make the season special by starting a tradition just for you. This could be a decadent holiday coffee from your local coffee shop, a cozy movie night out with a friend, or a networking lunch at a local café. It’s always a good idea to embrace the freedom and flexibility that independent work offers and celebrate the end of the year in your own unique way.

Reflect and plan for the year ahead. Downtime during the holidays can be a gift for an independent worker. You can use this time to reflect on your yearly accomplishments, update your LinkedIn account, make plans for the coming year, and dream big about your next steps. You could pair your business planning with a Chestnut Praline latte (yes, this is a real drink), or a holiday playlist to make the process enjoyable.

Why does taking the reigns on the holiday season matter, you ask?

As independent workers, we have the flexibility to shape our work lives and cultivate connections that are meaningful to us. By taking the reigns with purpose and intention, we can find joy not just in the holidays themselves, but in the creativity it takes to make them special. So, deck the halls, reach out to your community, and let your festive entrepreneurial spirit shine. After all, independent workers know better than anyone how to be resilient and resourceful, and make something extraordinary out of the ordinary.

Here’s to a holiday season filled with joy, connection, and entrepreneurial sparkkle!

Happy Holidays!

The Top 9 Workforce Terms You Need to Know

Over the last 10 years, the work world has been highly impacted by new workforce trends that have changed the way we work. These trends have shaped the language of the work world by giving us new terminology that reflects how employers are hiring and managing their workforce, and also describes how we are choosing to work. In order to effectively navigate your career, being well versed in terminology is necessary as you plan your next moves or search for new opportunities.

To help you get started, here are the top 7 terms you need to know and why.

Let's start with agile workforce.  

Today, an agile workforce is a talent pool that is nimble, flexible and responsive in a globally competitive market or in uncertain economic climates. It mixes full-time, part-time and independent workers, giving employers the opportunity to better respond to both customer demands and the next generation of workers who desire flexibility and lifestyle-driven work lives.

Additionally, an agile employer is a goal driven company that values collaboration, adapting to change, and trusting it's flexible workers. Pre-pandemic, employers were beginning to shift to an agile workforce. Post pandemic, after surviving one of the biggest disruptions of our time, employers realize the importance of being responsive to change and disruption. In a recent Randstad 2021 Talent Trends, 77% of employers said they planned to create more workforce agility. Workers who understand the agile mindset of employers will be better able to adapt and respond to employer needs.

Let's talk independent workforce.

An independent workforce is nothing new. For years, employers have hired an independent workforce of on-demand labour such as contractors, consultants, or freelancers. However, what has changed is the accelerated global growth of the independent workforce among highly skilled workers as companies learn how to respond to demands, disruption and competition through the use of technology.

Pre-pandemic, it was estimated by employer's in Randstad's Workforce 2025 report, that by 2025, 35% of the Canadian workforce would be made up of independent workers. In 2016, McKinsey Global Institute published one of the most comprehensive reports on the impact of an on-demand workforce across the globe called Independent Work: Choice, Necessity and the Gig Economy. At this time, it was estimated that 68M Americans were independent workers out of choice or necessity.

As businesses become more agile, they hire more independent workers. Workers who have the capacity to navigate both traditional and non-traditional opportunities will have an advantage because they will be adaptable, flexible and agile.

Let's look at the term independent worker.

An independent worker is a highly skilled worker who often specializes in a specific skill set or knowledge base allowing employers to tap into skills that are not present in their core workforce. Because they are self-employed and not on payroll, they are expected to take care of their taxes, benefits and pension. Their ability to network, build relationships with employers, and develop an entrepreneurial mindset is key to their success. The independent worker has also been called a contractor, consultant, freelancer or gig worker.

Professionals today need to know the difference between being an employee or an independent worker. In some cases, especially with more employees working remotely, on call, casually or seasonally, the lines can be blurry. Yet, it's important that professionals know the differences in order to ask the right questions in an interview, effectively negotiate an offer and also know how to do your taxes.

What’s the difference between traditional and non-traditional workers?

The traditional workforce is made up of permanent workers. This could be permanent part-time or permanent full-time workers who are often working on salary with benefits and have set hours. On the other hand, the non-traditional workforce is made up of on-demand workers whose hours will change depending on the needs of the employer. There are two groups of workers that make up the non-traditional workforce.

First, there are workers that are hired as employees and they work on-call, casually, seasonally, flexible part-time or full-time on contract. With this model in Canada, the employer takes off the workers pay tax, Employment Insurance and CPP. Secondly, there are workers that are hired as self-employed independent workers such as freelancers, contractors and consultants. Independent workers pay their own taxes and contribute to their own benefits.

The non-traditional workforce has grown because it allows employers the opportunity to dial up or dial down their workforce, hire workers with specific skills to work on certain projects or hire workers who want more freedom and flexibility in their work lives

What about the gig economy?

Over the years, the term "gig economy" has evolved globally and now includes subsections. It is now the umbrella term for on-demand labour and can be described as an economy of trading goods and services that supports temporary work as opposed to permanent work.

As already mentioned, the need for employers to dial up or dial down their talent pool to be responsive to disruption, consumer demands and to stay competitive in their industry has driven the growth in the gig economy (on-demand labour). Because of technology access and a globally talented workforce, solopreneurs, startup companies and established employers now have access to remote, independent workers from around the world through talent hubs such as Fiverr, Freelancer.com, HireMyMom and Upwork, to name a few. This creates the opportunity for workers from around the globe to create lucrative side hustles, become a digital nomad or work from anywhere in the world.

Which brings me to remote workers.

A remote worker is characterized by their lack of physical presence in the workplace. Consequently, the pandemic accelerated the growth in remote work and normalized it. A remote worker can now work from the top of Mt. Everest (depending on the Wifi connection) or can be minutes from the office working from home.  

Although the pandemic forced many of us into remote work, now that we are used to it, many employers and workers want to continue working either fully remote or in a hybrid model. Additionally, remote workers have realized they can move out of larger centers to smaller more affordable communities or take advantage of locations where the sun shines brighter and hotter.  The shift to a remote workforce isn't going to go away. From an employers perspective, it saves significant costs in housing workers. From the workers perspective, it saves precious time and the costs associated with a daily commute, a work wardrobe, lunches out, and parking.

We can’t forget side hustles.

A side hustle is a side income in addition to your full-time job. It can be a casual job, task-based gigs, freelance work, or an entrepreneurial venture. A side hustle job is a great way to get your foot in the door of a new industry or make extra income. A side hustle gig is a great way to build your skills or a portfolio of work. A side hustle business is a great way to flex your entrepreneurial muscles.

Over the last 10 years, side hustles have grown out of choice or necessity. Gig platforms have made it easier to pick up task-based side hustles. The growth in remote work has reduced commute time making it easier for workers to fit in a side hustle. As well, the desire for flexibility and autonomy have made many workers take an entrepreneurial risk and start a business based side hustle.

Side hustles also add extra income to our bank accounts as the cost of living increases making it a growing necessity for many families to have an extra source of income to add to their full-time salary.

Finally, what is a portfolio careerist?

Portfolio careerists are workers that income stream by combining full-time, part-time, freelance, contract, consulting, seasonal, project based or entrepreneurial ventures. (Typically, not all of the above simultaneously, but SOME of the above simultaneously). Someone who has a side hustle can also be classified as a portfolio careerist because they are streaming income from two sources, a full-time job and a side hustle income.

The portfolio career approach to work is nothing new. People have been income streaming for centuries. The farmer who worked off the farm, sold cattle, eggs and rented out a room in their home is an example of a portfolio careerist. However, the term portfolio careerist is a relatively new term in North America.  We have been called multi-trackers, slash careerists and, of course, the bad word of the 1950s, wait for it...MOONLIGHTER. Remember when you couldn't have that night time gig singing in seedy bars because it would look bad to your daytime employer? Well, those days are over. 

Prior to the pandemic, the trend towards a portfolio career was growing. Today, the growth in portfolio careers has coincided with the growth in gig work across North America. It also reflects the need for workers to be more flexible, able to adapt to workforce trends, labour market shifts, and pivot to meet their personal, career and financial needs.

The changing world of work has rapidly generated new opportunities. We now have a a talent pool of non-traditional workers and new terminology that workers need to know to effectively navigate their careers. This new vocabulary both shapes and reflects how employers are managing their workforce and how we are working.

Gail Kastning is a Certified Career Strategist and a portfolio careerist. She regularly interviews portfolio careerists and people with out of the box careers. She features them on her blog and in her speaking engagements.

Here are the Realities of Becoming a Freelancer

When it comes to being a freelancer, there are many advantages that make freelancing seem nothing short of a dream job. However, wherever there are advantages, there are also disadvantages. All of which I will be exploring throughout this post.

I am a freelancer who has been working alongside Purposeful Careers for the past six months. I graduated from high school in 2019, and I took a stab at News Broadcasting in the Fall. I decided it wasn’t for me, and so I took it upon myself to get a job working at a grocery store over the course of the holiday season. Then I got a part-time job working for a company called Jiva who had originally approached me because they wanted me to help them do video work. Unfortunately, the pandemic hit, and I got laid off. I didn’t want to have a huge gap in my work history so I approached Purposeful Careers, and asked them if they needed help. I have interest in social media, so we decided I would help create posts.

My job can be compared to that of a social media marketer because over the past several months, I have been working on a graphic design platform called Canva, creating and putting together content for both Instagram and Pinterest. In just six months, I’ve been promoted to taking a stab at writing a blog post. So, here I am.

Freelancing involves working independently for multiple people and/or companies on a contract basis. In other words, a freelancer is a self-employed individual who offers various services to their clients. I have learned over the last six months that being a self-employed freelancer has both advantages and disadvantages that everyone who is thinking about it, should know before they dive in.

Some of the Advantages

Being a freelancer means that you are your own boss, and that you have freedom to choose. You can choose your work hours. You can choose who you want to work for, and for how long you want to work for them. You can choose where to work, and you can choose when to call it a day. For example, I work part-time, three days a week from the comfort of my couch, but I don’t get to choose my hours. I start at 1:00 PM and end at 5:00 PM. During that period of time, I get a new assignment or I continue to work on the assignment from the previous day. I get to go to work in what I would call “picked-up-off-the-street” attire (basically whatever I want).

I also enjoy being able to work without having the commitment of the commute. Being able to wake up, and start work from the comfy cushions of a worn-out-couch is one of the joys of freelancing.  Being a freelancer means that you represent yourself, and your brand image, and the biggest advantages of being a freelancer is flexibility and freedom.

Another advantage is the fact that it’s been hard to find a traditional part-time or full-time job in this pandemic. Freelancing has given me the opportunity to learn new skills and get work experience that I wouldn’t normally be able to get. As well, because I don’t have a career direction chosen yet, I’ve been able to test drive social media content creation as a potential career.

Some of the Disadvantages

Keep in mind that as a freelancer, there’s bound to be disadvantages. You have your work cut out for you because it is your job to put yourself in the path of potential work, and find your own clients. As I mentioned, I approached Purposeful Careers after I got laid off. Purposeful Careers has now told other business owners about me so I could have potential clients in the future.

Your workload as a freelancer will vary, and you will not always have a steady stream of income. Not having a steady workload, and not being able to rely on a guaranteed stream of income can be a dealbreaker for some. In my experience, there will be days when my client suddenly decides that they don’t need me, and there will be days when my client is unorganized. For example, let's say I’m scheduled to work on Tuesday afternoon and on Tuesday morning my client says, “It’s okay. You don’t have to work today.” As you can see, being given short notice when it comes to when you work, and when you don’t work is something that freelancers have to deal with. Receiving short notice is a bummer, but in my eyes, it just means I can go back to bed. If you are the kind of person who needs consistency, and a steady income stream then freelancing is not for you.

Freelancing is a great opportunity to make money doing something that you want to, and already know how to do. Both the advantages and disadvantages are worth looking into if you are interested in becoming a freelancer. All in all, freelancing is a job that pretty much anybody can pursue, and if you were to give it a shot, you might find that it is a dream come true.