The geography of freelancing

Remote, or remote-controlled working?

As many of you will know by now, I moved from London to the Cotswolds in August 2020. I chose to change where I freelanced, long-term.

It was during the pandemic, between the two lockdowns, and not many people were working in offices. So, it worked. Remote working was the norm, by law! So we worked remotely.

Now, as the world opens up again, I’m noticing a move back to either hybrid or in-office working as a freelancer. Short term writing roles - contracts, and also shifts, as they’re known, essentially freelance temping - are now expected to take place back in the office.

And, for the first time, I’m experiencing how geography can affect your freelancing.

For example, a few weeks ago a newspaper did a shout out for writers to do shifts for them. I sent over my CV. I was told it was office-based, in London. The day rate was fairly low (another topic for another time), and with my other commitments (coaching, dogs), being in the office just isn’t viable for me, especially with the cost and time of travelling into London!

I replied to say I was only able to work remotely, and found myself ghosted.

No worries, really, as the day rate wasn’t high enough.

But the residual feeling was ‘why did this have to be office based?’. I have a computer, internet, a desk and phone. I don’t need to use theirs. I’d have done the work for the rate if I could have been at home, because taking out travel costs, it would have worked OK for me.

The other thing which perplexes me is the time it takes to commute. Instead of sitting on a train travelling to their office, I could be at home working on content for them. The dogs on the bed beside me, computer on, words flowing.

As a freelancer, it seems strange to me that we need to be in the office. Sadly, in my experience, being a freelancer in an office doesn’t mean you’re included. I’ve sat in on shifts and had to wait for logins and even a door pass. People often forget you’re there when they go for their regular lunchtime walk.

One office I worked in didn’t permit freelancers to have a pass to get in and out of the security doors, so I had to get reception to buzz up to get the editor I was working for to come down and let me in. Why was I travelling to be ‘part of their team’ when I felt anything but? Often, we’re asked to sit on random hot desks, or a desk in a different part of the office to the team, because of space. So we’re essentially remote, anyway!

So when I hear ‘we need you in the office’ I don’t also hear ‘we want to include you in office life.’ And that makes me angry. Because that’s the same, to me, as saying ‘we think your skills only matter based on where you’re sat’.

Because above everything else, it raises an issue of trust. What do they think we’ll do if we’re not sat at a desk where they can see us? Yes, I will of course use a tea break to also put a wash on, or perhaps answer the door to a delivery driver. But when we’re in offices, staff in particular (and I know this because, of course, I’ve done it!), we waste time in a much less productive way. We loiter by the canteen till, or spend a little bit more of our lunchbreak away from the building. We might run late because of the tube (yes, we’ve all said that when really we were queueing for a coffee!). We might stay longer in a meeting room to catch up with a friend from another department.

Being there physically doesn’t mean we’re there mentally. In fact, demanding a freelancer spend some of that day rate on travelling to your office brings on extra stress as well as financial pressure. And it starts off a working relationship with an assumption that you think we need to be sat in your office, like children turning up to school.

By contrast, a hybrid is understandable - and that’s where geography can be on our side as freelancers. Many of the short-term contracts I’ve put myself forward for this year have been out of London, with the offer of working from home, but some ‘keeping in touch’ days in offices in Bath, Swindon or Bristol. Suddenly being further West than Hammersmith works to my advantage!

I have, in the past, enjoyed going into offices as a freelancer. You get a mixture of interaction with some humans, a working printer and, often, a nice coffee shop nearby. The creative juices can flow better when you’re around other people. But for many of us, that box can be ticked via co-working space rather than a set office owned by a client. It can be ticked by a once a week or month keeping in touch day, which works for freelancers because we can combine that with a pre or post work meeting or event. AKA win-win!

My conclusion is that we need to use geography to our advantage as freelancers, and make sure we push back when the demands made of us are purely that - geographical. There’s a big difference between a role needing to be in a particular location because that matters to the job (a certain venue, for example, if you’re an events manager), and someone wanting you on a seat in their office just so they know where you are.

If we’re not in the ‘big city’ (for me, that’s London, but other big cities are available and I’m sure you’ve been told you’re ‘needed’ anywhere from Leeds to Edinburgh for a short term role) what is there around us that does work, geographically? Are there companies nearer where we live that might need us? Companies that also understand the flexibility of working from home? Can our location be an advantage for our niche, or what we offer? For example, being in the Cotswolds secured me a column in a national newspaper when I moved here.

I’ve found a lot of new connections for coaching are actually nationwide, and a course I teach for City, University of London, is done remotely, meaning I’ve met students from Mexico City, Jordan and the Isle of Wight to name a few. All of whom would miss out if the course demanded they schlep to London on a Tuesday evening.

Ultimately, demanding that freelancers come to a specific office, in a specific location is detrimental for the business demanding it because they’re missing out on a large part of the freelance pool. People like me, dare I say it, who are excellent at what they do if only they can be ‘trusted’ to do it remotely. People who have skills they can bring to the table, as long as it’s not a specific table in a specific location.

Is it, essentially, more about politics than geography?

Read, listen, subscribe…

Read: NOON is a website by editor and broadcaster Eleanor Mills, focusing on Midlife and what she calls ‘Queenagers’. Some very interesting articles and takes on midlife, something I’m keen to know more about at 44!

Listen: The Deliberate Freelancer is a great name! This podcast focuses on ‘building a freelance business - deliberately’. The episode I’ve tagged is about the low points of freelancing from founder Mel, especially with the challenges of the pandemic.

Subscribe: Farrah Storr’s newsletter on Substack is hugely entertaining - this take on Peloton names had me giggling, not least because of the use of the word Wazzock.