The year is 1194. Maurice De Bracy, enemy to the English crown, is locked in combat with a mysterious Black Knight. Suddenly, the Black Knight gains the upper hand. He whispers his true identity in De Bracy’s ear: King Richard the Lionheart of England. De Bracy yields. Later, De Bracy offers to let King Richard use his army of “Free Lances,” mercenary soldiers who were free to use their lances in service of whoever paid the most.
Godina je 1194. Maurice De Bracy, neprijatelj engleske krune, u žestokoj je borbi s tajanstvenim Crnim vitezom. Crni vitez odjednom preuzima vodstvo. Zatim šapne svoj pravi identitet De Bracyju. Kralj Rikard I. Lavljeg Srca. De Bracy se preda. De Bracy ponudi Rikardu svoju vojsku “Slobodna koplja” (“Free Lances”), plaćenike koji su mogli koristiti koplja u službi onoga tko najviše plati.
That’s how it plays out in Sir Walter Scott’s 1819 novel, “Ivanhoe.” Scott didn’t coin the term, but it was probably this use that stuck, and evolved to describe someone who works independently of any single company.
Tako se to odigrava u romanu <i>Ivanhoe</i> Sira Waltera Scotta iz 1819. Scott nije skovao taj izraz, ali vjerojatno se ta upotreba zadržala i razvila u opis nekoga tko u radu ne ovisi ni o jednoj tvrtki.
That independence seems to make people happy. A 2016 survey of freelancers in six countries found that those who freelance by choice— 70% of respondents, by the way— were happier than people in traditional jobs, specifically when it came to things like independence and flexibility in terms of where and when they work. In a survey conducted in the US, half of freelancers said there was no amount of money that would convince them to rejoin the traditional workforce.
Čini se da ta neovisnost usrećuje ljude. Anketa za freelancere provedena 2016. u 6 zemalja, pokazala je da su oni koji su taj put izabrali, što je 70% ispitanika, sretniji nego ljudi s tradicionalnim poslovima, posebno kada je riječ o neovisnosti i fleksibilnosti oko toga gdje i kada rade. U anketi provedenoj u SAD-u, polovica freelancera rekla je da nema tog novca zbog kojeg bi se vratili u tradicionalni oblik rada.
At some point in your life— maybe even now— you might wonder whether freelancing is right for you. You'll need a few things to be successful.
U nekom trenutku svog života, a možda čak i sada, mogli biste se pitati je li freelancing za vas. Postoji nekoliko preduvjeta za uspjeh.
First, you'll need a skill that's in demand. This can be as universal as driving a car to as specialized as neurosurgery, and it can be in pretty much any field.
Prvo, potrebna vam je tražena vještina. Može biti univerzalna kao vožnja auta ili specijalizirana kao neurokirurgija, i može biti u gotovo bilo kojem polju.
The more people who want your skill, and the fewer people who have it, the more you can charge for your services.
Što više ljudi treba tu vještinu i što je manje ljudi posjeduje, više ćete moći naplatiti usluge.
Next, you’ll need to transform yourself into an entrepreneur. Before freelancers can do any work, they have to find it. That takes marketing your services, negotiating contracts, building a network of satisfied clients, and a whole set of administrative skills like project management, time management, and accounting.
Nadalje, morat ćete postati poduzetnik. Prije početka posla, freelanceri ga moraju pronaći. Treba oglašavati svoje usluge, pregovarati o ugovorima, graditi mrežu zadovoljnih klijenata i raditi niz administrativnih vještina, npr. upravljati projektima, organizirati vrijeme i brinuti o računovodstvu.
And thirdly, if you can afford it, it's probably a good idea to budget for some benefits for yourself and maybe your family. Freelancers don’t automatically get perks that some salaried jobs offer, like paid vacation or sick leave, life insurance, college tuition, or retirement plans. In countries like the US, where the government doesn’t provide healthcare to most people, freelancers are responsible for that, too.
I treće, ako si možete priuštiti, dobro je predvidjeti troškove vlastitih doprinosa i doprinosa za svoju obitelj. Freelanceri nemaju zajamčene povlastice koje nude neki tradicionalni poslovi, kao što su plaćeni odmor ili bolovanje, životno osiguranje, školarina ili mirovina. U zemljama kao što je SAD, gdje vlada ne osigurava zdravstvenu skrb za većinu populacije, freelanceri preuzimaju i tu odgovornost.
Freelancing has been around for a long time; but digital freelancing platforms like Uber, Lyft, and Fiverr are pretty new. They say they’ll connect you with clients and take care of some of the entrepreneurial and administrative stuff so you can focus on the work. But there are some hidden costs to consider.
Freelancing postoji već dugo; ali digitalne <i>freelancing</i> platforme, kao Uber, Lyft i Fiverr, prilično su nove. Obećavaju povezivanje s klijentima i brigu za određene poduzetničke i administrativne stvari, kako biste se vi koncentrirali na posao. Ali postoje skriveni troškovi o kojima treba razmisliti.
First, your life may not be as flexible as you think. For example, if you're a rideshare driver, you get to choose when to work, but not how: the app recommends what route to take, enforces how you act with the threat of low customer ratings, and sets your rate. Those rates may be so low that you end up working more than if you had a salaried full-time job.
Prvo, život vam možda neće biti fleksibilan koliko mislite. Ako ste, primjerice, vozač, birate kada ćete raditi, ali ne i kako. Aplikacija predlaže kojim putem ići, uvjetuje vaše ponašanje uz prijetnju loših ocjena korisnika i određuje vašu cijenu. Cijena može biti toliko niska da ćete na kraju raditi više nego da imate stalno zaposlenje.
Speaking of rates, it can be hard to figure out exactly how much money you’ll make. Earnings vary based on location; platforms might advertise hourly rates that don’t factor in expenses, and large scale data on actual earnings is sparse. One of the largest data sets we have is from Uber. It contains 740 million trips by 1.8 million drivers between 2015 and 2017. Researchers analyzed these figures in a 2018 paper and found that once you deduct Uber's cut and the cost of business expenses, drivers’ average earnings dropped from about $22 an hour to about $12 an hour. And buying benefits would reduce that number even more.
Kada smo kod cijena, može biti teško procijeniti koliko ćete točno zarađivati. Zarada ovisi o lokaciji; platforme mogu oglašavati satnice u koje nisu uključeni troškovi, a opsežni podaci o zaradi su rijetki. Jedan od najvećih dostupnih skupova podataka je Uberov. Sadrži podatke o 740 milijuna vožnji od 1,8 milijuna vozača između 2015. i 2017. U članku iz 2018., istraživači su analizirali te brojke i zaključili da, kad oduzmemo Uberov dio i troškove poslovanja, prosječna zarada vozača pada sa 22 na otprilike 12 dolara po satu. Uplaćivanje doprinosa dodatno smanjuje taj iznos.
And there is a lot of variability in working conditions across different gig platforms. For example, the company 99 in Brazil operates a rideshare platform that many people use to deliver packages. Drivers are matched with shippers, and 99 takes a cut. The company’s terms and conditions hold both the shipper and the driver liable for anything that could go wrong— including things like if a package gets stolen.
Uvjeti rada jako se razlikuju među različitim platformama. Na primjer, brazilska tvrtka 99 vodi platformu za vozače, a mnogi je koriste za dostavu paketa. 99 spaja vozače s pošiljateljima i uzima dio zarade. Uvjeti poslovanja tvrtke smatraju i pošiljatelja i vozača odgovornima u slučaju da nešto pođe po krivu, uključujući i u slučaju krađe.
If you’re considering joining the app economy and don’t want to read all the fine print, there’s a network of researchers who publish ratings of platforms based on five categories of fair employment.
Ako razmišljate o izlazu na tržište aplikacija, a ne želite čitati sitna slova, postoji mreža istraživača koji objavljuju ocjene platformi na osnovi pet kategorija pravednog zapošljavanja.
Digital gig platforms come with drawbacks and may not provide a reliable living wage. But for many around the world who don’t have the luxury of choice and need to make money as soon as possible, like, say, if you just lost your job, the gig economy is the easiest and fastest place to get hired. For this reason, some have called it an “alternative safety net.”
Digitalne platforme imaju nedostatke i ne osiguravaju uvijek plaću dostatnu za život. Ali za mnoge ljude koji nemaju luksuz izbora i moraju zaraditi što je prije moguće, recimo za one koji su izgubili posao, honorarni su poslovi najlakši i najbrži put zaposlenju. Zbog toga ih neki zovu “alternativnim sigurnosnim mrežama”.
So, considering all these factors and many others, should you dip your toes into the gig economy? Or dive in? Ask yourself: how much do you value flexibility or autonomy? Do you prefer to work within an established structure, or to make your own? Are you willing to network to find new clients? Are you organized and self-directed? And perhaps most importantly, how much do you value knowing exactly what you'll earn from week to week?
Kada se svi ovi, i mnogi drugi faktori uzmu u obzir, biste li trebali probati freelancing? Ili mu se predati? Zapitajte se: koliko su vam važni fleksibilnost i autonomija? Volite li više raditi u već postojećoj strukturi, ili želite stvoriti svoju? Jeste li spremni klijente tražiti umrežavanjem? Jeste li organizirani i samostalni? I možda najvažnije, koliko cijenite fiksnu i redovitu plaću?