Corporate Versus Freelance

Fig. 12.1 Distribution of corporate and freelancer respondents

	Corporate	Freelance
Organization type	71.7%	28.3%

Freelancers make up 28.3% of the respondents (i.e., careerists, not including the students/hobbyists), and 71.7% are what we are calling “corporates” (i.e., including partners in large firms, partners in small firms, and employees).

Fig. 12.2 Age group by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
18 and under	25.4%	74.6%
19-29	74.1%	25.9%
30-44	72.1%	27.9%
45-64	56.8%	43.2%
65 and over	29.7%	70.3%
Overall	71.7%	28.3%

There are more freelancers aged 18 and under, and age 45-64. They have a lower percentage of respondents 19-29.

Fig. 12.3 Gender by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
Female	75.1%	24.9%
Male	71.0%	29.0%
Overall	71.7%	28.3%

Men are more likely to be freelancers than women, though only by a narrow margin.

Fig. 12.4 Ethnicity by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
Indigenous / Native	76.5%	23.5%
Black / African	74.5%	25.5%
Asian / Pacific Rim	72.4%	27.6%
White / Caucasian	72.0%	28.0%
Other	67.9%	32.1%
Hispanic / Latino	65.9%	34.1%
Overall	71.7%	28.3%

The freelancers and corporates have comparable percentages of all ethnic groups, except for Hispanics. Freelancers are 5.1% Hispanic compared to 3.9% for corporates.

Fig. 12.5 Job title by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
Project Manager	80.79%	19.21%
Web Director	79.56%	20.44%
Other	79.02%	20.98%
Art Director	78.83%	21.17%
Educator	78.26%	21.74%
Usability Expert/Consultant/Lead	77.06%	22.94%
Interface Designer, UI Designer	76.65%	23.35%
Information Architect	74.57%	25.43%
Marketer	74.22%	25.78%
Developer	73.94%	26.06%
Writer, Editor	72.97%	27.03%
Webmaster, Web Master	69.97%	30.03%
Web Producer	67.97%	32.03%
Creative Director	63.53%	36.47%
Accessibility Expert/Consultant/Lead	58.57%	41.43%
Designer	57.04%	42.96%
Web Designer	56.49%	43.51%
Overall	71.7%	28.3%

Web Designers, Designers, and Creative Directors make up a disproportionate amount of freelancers. Developers, Project Managers, Interface Designers, Art Directors, and Web Directors make up a disproportionate amount of corporates.

Fig. 12.6 Geographic region by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
North and Central America	74.7%	25.3%
Oceania	71.4%	28.6%
Europe	68.2%	31.8%
Asia	65.4%	34.6%
South America	62.7%	37.3%
Africa	59.9%	40.1%
Overall	71.7%	28.3%

North and Central America is the only region that has a greater proportion of corporates than the sample as a whole. All the other regions have a greater proportion of freelancers than the sample as a whole.

Fig. 12.7 Educational attainment by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
Grade/primary school	48.5%	51.5%
High/secondary school	57.4%	42.6%
Some college or university	65.6%	34.4%
College diploma, associate’s, bachelor’s, or other degree	76.1%	23.9%
Master’s degree	74.3%	25.7%
Doctorate	62.7%	37.3%
Overall	71.7%	28.3%

Corporates have a greater percentage of respondents with a college degree or better than do freelancers (73.5% to 60.4%).

Fig. 12.8 Education value by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
A lot	78.0%	22.0%
Some	74.1%	25.9%
A little	70.8%	29.2%
Not at all	62.9%	37.1%
Overall	71.7%	28.3%

Corporates feel their academic studies have helped them in their web career to a much greater extent than do the freelancers: 55.2% to 45.9%.

Fig. 12.9 Staying current, corporates versus freelancers

	Corporate	Freelance
Read relevant websites/zines/blogs	95.8%	74.7%
Trial-and-error	81.1%	62.9%
Work with others at my company	74.6%	26.1%
Read books	72.2%	57.1%
Attend seminars and conferences	41.8%	20.6%
Participate in discussion boards	40.0%	38.2%
In-house training	34.4%	23.0%
Participate in mailing lists	30.1%	24.2%

In every category of activity by which a web professional can stay current in the field, fewer freelance respondents are doing those activities than corporates.

Fig. 12.10 Degree of web work by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
All or nearly all of my work is web-related	76.7%	23.3%
Most of my work is web-related	68.4%	31.6%
About half my work is web-related	61.9%	38.1%
Around a quarter of my work is web-related	60.1%	39.9%
Web-related work is a small part of what I do	53.8%	46.2%
I don’t do any web-related work	65.5%	34.5%
Overall	71.7%	28.3%

For 85.5% of corporates, their web-related work is all or most of their responsibilities, compared to 75.8% of freelancers.

Fig. 12.11 Excitement with profession by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
Yes - very frequently	70.7%	29.3%
Yes - frequently	72.4%	27.6%
Yes - once in a while	72.1%	27.9%
No	67.3%	32.7%
Don’t know	76.5%	23.5%
Overall	71.7%	28.3%

There is no significant disparity between freelancers and corporates.

Fig. 12.12 Previous work by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
Web design/development was first professional job	76.7%	23.3%
Before the web, work was non-technical	69.3%	30.7%
Migrated to the web from a background in IT/technology	69.3%	30.7%
Migrated to web design from a background in print design/advertising/art direction, etc	68.7%	31.3%
Overall	71.7%	28.3%

A slightly greater proportion of corporates have web design as their first professional job than the sample as a whole. The freelancers are slightly more likely to have migrated from other fields.

Fig. 12.13 Hours worked per week by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
Less than 20 hours	16.6%	83.4%
20-29 hours	28.8%	71.2%
30-39 hours	74.2%	25.8%
40-49 hours	85.3%	14.7%
50-59 hours	64.1%	35.9%
60 hours or more	50.5%	49.5%
Overall	71.7%	28.3%

The corporate respondents are much more likely to work the standard full-time job (40-49 hours per week): 59.5% to 26.1%. Freelancers are more likely to work less than 20 hours per week (12.7% to 1%), and more than 50 hours per week (28.4% to 16.4%).

Fig. 12.14 Longevity in the field by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
Not applicable	61.9%	38.1%
Less than a year	72.9%	27.1%
1 year	71.9%	28.1%
2 years	72.9%	27.1%
3 years	72.7%	27.3%
4 years	73.6%	26.4%
5 years	69.2%	30.8%
6 years	70.2%	29.8%
7 years	73.4%	26.6%
8 years	73.0%	27.0%
9 years	74.3%	25.7%
10 years (or more)	69.7%	30.3%
Overall	71.7%	28.3%

Freelancers and corporates are comparably experienced in the field. Freelancers have a slight edge in the percentage of respondents with at least five years of experience: 58.7% to 56.9%.

Fig. 12.15 Salary range by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
Less than $10,000	42.5%	57.5%
$10,000-$19,999	54.5%	45.5%
$20,000-$39,999	70.2%	29.8%
$40,000-$59,999	82.5%	17.5%
$60,000-$79,999	82.5%	17.5%
$80,000-$99,999	78.8%	21.2%
$100,000-$119,999	70.3%	29.7%
$120,000-$149,999	66.8%	33.2%
More than $150,000	53.8%	46.2%
Overall	71.9%	28.1%

A significantly greater percentage of freelancers make under $40,000 (53.4% to 29.8%, but also, a greater percentage of freelancers make over $100,000 (11.6% to 8.7%). Computing the admittedly flawed weighted average yields the following: Corporates: $54,665, freelancers: $42,108.

Fig. 12.16 Job satisfaction by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
Very satisfied	75.3%	24.7%
Somewhat satisfied	69.7%	30.3%
Neutral	66.3%	33.7%
Somewhat dissatisfied	74.7%	25.3%
Very dissatisfied	80.6%	19.4%
Overall	71.7%	28.3%

Although corporates and freelancers have the same percentages of respondents indicating either “very” or “somewhat satisfied,” the corporates have a higher percentage of respondents indicating “very satisfied” (28.6% to 23.8%).

Fig. 12.17 Next career move by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
Get a promotion at my current job	94.6%	5.4%
New job in a new organization	86.5%	13.5%
Attend a conference/take classes/other educational activity	79.0%	21.0%
Start my own business	74.5%	25.5%
Stay where I am	74.3%	25.7%
Change my area of specialization (for instance, from design to development)	68.6%	31.4%
Leave the profession	67.8%	32.2%
Learn a new skill	66.9%	33.1%
Begin (or expand) my professional writing or speaking	61.9%	38.1%
Other	57.4%	42.6%
Start pitching a better class of client	32.5%	67.5%
Get my first job in the field	31.4%	68.6%
Find a partner whose skills complement mine	26.7%	73.3%
Overall	71.8%	28.2%

Corporates and freelancers appear to have different priorities. Corporates are more likely to: get a promotion, get a new job in a new organization, start their own business, or attend a conference. Freelancers are more likely to: learn a new skill, change their area of specialization, start pitching a better class of client, begin or expand professional writing or speaking, or find a partner with complementary skills.

Fig. 12.18 Perceived age bias by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
Definitely not	75.6%	24.4%
Probably not	71.9%	28.1%
Maybe	66.9%	33.1%
Cautiously yes	66.5%	33.5%
Definitely yes	61.2%	38.8%
Overall	71.8%	28.2%

Fig. 12.19 Perceived gender bias by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
Definitely not	73.1%	26.9%
Probably not	68.0%	32.0%
Maybe	70.7%	29.3%
Cautiously yes	72.9%	27.1%
Definitely yes	71.1%	28.9%
Overall	71.8%	28.2%

Fig. 12.20 Perceived ethnic bias by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
Definitely not	73.7%	26.3%
Probably not	67.0%	33.0%
Maybe	62.1%	37.9%
Cautiously yes	62.4%	37.6%
Definitely yes	61.3%	38.7%
Overall	71.8%	28.2%

Fig. 12.21 Perceived geographic bias by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
Definitely not	72.7%	27.3%
Probably not	71.3%	28.7%
Maybe	71.3%	28.7%
Cautiously yes	73.8%	26.2%
Definitely yes	68.9%	31.1%
Overall	71.8%	28.2%

Fig. 12.22 Perceived disability bias by workplace

	Corporate	Freelance
Definitely not	77.2%	22.8%
Probably not	70.9%	29.1%
Maybe	63.4%	36.6%
Cautiously yes	63.7%	36.3%
Definitely yes	61.6%	38.4%
Not applicable	71.1%	28.9%
Overall	71.8%	28.2%

Freelancers have a higher percentage of respondents who said they believe that age, ethnicity, and disability bias has hurt them professionally. (Note: Not so for gender or geography, where the freelance and corporate percentages are essentially the same.)