The Rise in Freelancing

Are the crumbling media market and the wave of layoffs sending more people into freelancing? It would seem so. I read in the December 1 issue of New York magazine that the Freelancer's Union added over 3,000 members this past October.

Digging a little deeper, I found this post from author and writer Kate Lister (and, in the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you the Lister profiles me in her upcoming book "Undress for Success: the Naked Truth About Making Money From Home"), which details four possible reasons that freelancing is on the rise (garnered from the book "Free Agent Nation"):

• Mutual loyalty between company and worker crumbled.
• Cheap digitals allow many more people to produce a product or offer a service.
• Work became a way to be fulfilled, instead of only a way to make money.
• Individuals began outliving the organizations for which they worked.

Interesting stuff, and two great books to check out there. Looks like we're going to have a lot of colleagues joining us! What about you? What would you say is the reason you're looking into freelancing?