Jono Randell-Nash’s Post

Employment isn’t safe or predictable in my opinion. Things aren’t in your control. Especially with fast advancements in technology and a turbulent political and economical landscape around the world. Globalisation means employment is less predictable and safe than ever. Self employment, yes you’re the boss and in control of your destiny insofar as you can control it. However the same influences apply - the political, economical and technological landscape. The legal landscape too - remember IR35 and the impact that had on so many self employed contractors? More than one in three adults in the UK, or 20 million people, now have multiple incomes, according to research by service provider Utility Warehouse. By 2025, the research estimates, 47% of the UK’s adult population could be earning an extra income, compared with less than 10% in 2017. This says a lot. Is it just about cost of living, or is it about having a plan to protect yourself from the unpredictability of the times we are living in too? A plan, whatever form that comes in, for both employed and self employed folks is essential.

The risk of self-employment is a myth. For instance, a lawyer working for Bink, Bonk, and Boggins Solicitors has one employer. If the employer offloads the solicitor, the solicitor is unemployed. The lawyer running their own business has dozens of 'employers' at any one time. If the 'employers' buzz off, the lawyer still has other 'employers'. The same goes for any self-employed professional or tradesperson.

Back yourself. If you are doing an employed job that generates income - for example financial adviser, accountant, legal fee earner, mechanic, hair dresser... Then you have a target, whether you know it or not! If you don't generate sufficient income you will be either sacked, or made redundant when the business collapses. So why not look at being self employed? An employed person needs to generate income that covers not only their own income and expenses, but that of the support staff in the business, the profit margin for the business owners and the shortfall for underperforming staff, oh and potentially pension contributions for historic staff - via DB schemes. A self-employed person only has to cover their own costs and generate an income level that they need. In other words, work as hard and earn more, or earn as much and work less!

Before I decided to break away from being an employee I was in this category. I believed I needed the security and stability of a regular monthly salary. However, as I got older I realised that what is the worst that could happen if I went self-employed? Nothing... because the reality is I could just return to being employed again if it didn't work out. With hindsight, I wish I had broken away years ago rather than holding on to the false belief I needed a regular monthly salary. I now have the freedom to work with clients the way I want, with whom I want and best of all when I want. I work outside normal working hours but this is because I choose to and to balance this I do non-work related things during normal working hours such as go to the cinema to watch a matinee 😊

I'm going to come at this from a different angle to everyone else as it is something I put a LOT of thought into a couple of years ago. Is being employed safe? It's as safe as the business you work for and how hard you want to work for them to keep the job. Am I safer working for someone else? Yes. Mentally I am safer I am able to switch off at 5pm, or switch back on if I choose I know where my money is coming from and how much I will get each month which allows me to budget better. I have HUGE respect for anyone who goes self employed but for my mental safety I choose to work for others.

Some people lack the discipline required, it's just not their strength and they need the structure of being an employee more than even the pay-check, so for them being self-employed will be self-destructive.

For me, employment is safer in some ways and less safe in others. As you say, if you’re self-employed, you’re not going to worry about being made redundant. So there’s safety in that sense. But being an employee comes with other protection like paid sick leave, a regular income (in principle) and, as you say, so much less of the admin that comes with having your own business. Personally, I much prefer having my own business to being employed by someone else because of the flexibility and control it gives.

I can totally relate! I was employed at a great company and got laid off after just 6 months due to budget cuts. Since then, I’ve been freelancing, and even though it can be more stressful and challenging at times, it feels so much safer because I control my income, choose who I work with, and how I grow my business. The thought of being employed again, having a one-month notice period, and then jumping back into the job market—sending out 100+ CVs and competing with thousands of others—is something I can’t imagine going back to.

This is the great contradiction, Jono: most people see employment as ‘safe’ because of the guarantee of a salary at the end of each month - whether the work is there or not, the salary comes in and everything else is someone else’s responsibility. Except that ‘everything else’ is where the real guarantee comes from.

Depends on your version of 'safe'. I've been made redundant twice - and it's not nice. But once over the disappointment I realised I could make it with my own business. I do work harder though which I don't mind as I also get the upside (and downside) of that.