Is Self-Employment a Permanent Solution? | Feb 19th 2007
By Jacqueline Dooley
Every Sunday morning, I get an e-mail newsletter filled with job openings in the media industry. I’ve been receiving this newsletter for at least four years, and each year I’ve used it differently.
During my first year in business, I used the newsletter to actively seek employment. I often sent introductory e-mails offering myself up as a source of interim talent to the companies seeking to hire full-time employees. My feeling was that even part-time, freelance help was better than no help at all.
Even though I no longer need to troll the listings, I continue to receive the newsletter. Now I use it to gauge the health of the industry, and evaluate the types of jobs out there.
One of the things that catches my eye among the listings is the phrase, “permanent position.” I wonder what permanent means these days?
Oh, I’m jaded, I fully admit that. I’ll never be able to trust the permanence of any “permanent” position again based on living through the layoffs that occurred at the agency where I worked from 1997 to 2002. Not only did I witness at least six rounds of layoffs during my tenure with that company, I eventually ended up on the chopping block.
It was hard to believe that’s how the story ended back then. Getting laid off from a position that, in 1997, had unlimited potential for growth was not only shocking, it was a huge eye opener. I think my own naivete was a big reason for my blind faith in the permanence of my job back then. My father has been employed with the same company for more than 30 years, after all. I saw no reason for my own career path to be any different.
Yet I’ve always felt a nagging uncertainty about being dependent on one company for my complete financial security for an indefinite amount of time.
Not sure it can be done
These days I often wonder if it’s possible to be permanently self-employed. How long can I go on running my own business, which is paradoxically dependent on the viability and success of other businesses - and their ongoing need for talent - until the day I fold up my computer and retire to a hammock in the Bahamas?
I’ve asked that question a lot lately, and the answer is always - well, forever. But my husband has pointed out on more than one occasion that we have no safety net like we would if I was an employee for one company.
When you’re self-employed, you are not covered by unemployment. There are no severance packages, or COBRA benefits. The money just stops until you can find a way to start it up again.
Now my financial stability must be independent from job permanence. My business is the path to that reality - I truly believe that - but only if I plan it properly and don’t ignore things like IRA contributions and supplementary long-term disability insurance even though they nibble away at my immediate income.
Planning for contingencies so my family is covered if the money stops coming in is part of what I have to consider to keep this well-oiled machine running. If I don’t take the time to plan ahead now, then I may as well start sending out resumés again.
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This article was originally published in the Poughkeepsie Journal under the title, “Job security is just a wish for most self-employers” (a title I hate) on Saturday, February 17, 2007.