freelance

In Germany, there are currently about two million people working in a freelance employment – the trend is rising. Is freelance work a higher requirement regarding professional and personal life? The study conducted by psychologists from the University of Hagen is dealing with motivational factors and the question how both handle uncertainty and strain.  Among others the scientists also focused on  IT freelancers. According to the study, freelancers in general and IT freelancers i.e. are mostly contented with their working situation.

Here are some further results of the study:

IT freelancers pursuit economic goals. They are  satisfied with their income and see the flexibility that is required rather as a challenge than as a burden.

The acquisition of projects is not viewed as problematic. The concept of self-promotion is valued highly by the respondents.

None could identify with the stereotype of the lonely freelancer. They can quickly identify with the companies they are working for and see the permanent employees as colleagues. Therefore social skills are very important.

Also freelancers are those who are the ones who could distinguish best between private and professional life.

All in all the researchers came to the conclusion that freelancers are generally satisfied with their working life – still freelancers are confronted with different aspects/obstacles than permanent employees.

What are the differences you have encountered in your freelance working life? In your opinion are freelancers generally more or less content than permanent employees? We are looking forward to your comments.

Based on: elektronikpraxis.vogel.de

Being a successful freelancer is not as easy as it may seem in the beginning. A key to being successful is a person’s motivation. Still everyone seems to be experiencing times when the job motivation is low – IT freelancers like everyone else. The complex and quickly changing IT industry is a special environment for freelancers and their clients. Especially clients have to keep in mind that money is not the most important motivating factor. But what are motivating factors for IT freelancers?

Money alone is not a factor to motivate IT freelancers permanently. It’s more about the significance of work and what the success of a project means to the freelancer and his/her colleagues. Appreciation for their competences has a much more powering effect than simply being payed for doing something irrelevant. As a matter of fact earning money is essential. Being able to e.g. go on holiday or take some time for the family, means freedom and independency. But nevertheless it’s then more a status symbol as a basic or survival need.

Things that have a motivating effect on IT freelancers:

After slightly descending project postings on projektwerk.de in May, the overall positive trend continues. In particular, the number of SAP projects hit a record high in June: figures mount up to 296 projects in 2010 compared to 110 projects in June 2009.

This growth is due to an unexpectedly strong business year for SAP – as the German software developer was able to increase it’s turnover considerably in the first quarter of 2010. This significant upward development can be attributed to the after-effects of the economic crisis, which drives many companies to restructure operations. This, in turn, leads to heavy investments in the IT sector.

However, not only SAP projects on projektwerk.de show an upward trend.

According to BITKOM, the German Association for Information Technology, the expectations concerning the tendency of the ICT sector’s financial situation rose by 71 percent in the second quarter of 2010.

“The BITKOM-industry is expecting further growth”, says BITKOM chairman Scheer. This is partly due to the necessity of upgrading such infrastructures as electricity supply, government agency networks, and the educational system. Nevertheless, such improvements are only manageable with sufficient specialists available to get the work done. As part of this development, the demand for IT-professionals and freelancers will increase significantly. According to BITKOM there are about 20,000 vacant positions in the ICT sector – every third company listed in the BITKOM Index is complaining about a lack of experts, negatively affecting their performance and business development.

Managing Director of projektwerk GmbH, Dr. Christiane Strasse, sees significant advantages for IT freelancers: “Based on our figures, we can say with certainty that the recovery of the IT market will further continue as more investments will be made. Another important factor is the lack of experts. However, this deficiency can be optimally offset by utilizing freelancers.”

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