Band 6+: Nowadays many people choose to be self-employed, rather than to work for a company or organisation. Why might this be the case? What could be the disadvantages of being self-employed? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Over the past decades, more and more people started choosing to work independently instead of working for someone else. Many reasons could be found to justify such a choice, but the disadvantages are clear and shouldn’t be overlooked. In this essay, I will discuss the main advantages that most people preferring an independent job point out of this choice, along with its downsides.

The choice of being self-employed is clearly appealing for many reasons, which leads more people each year to choose this option. Firstly, the income is potentially higher, since it depends on the amount of clients, or, more generally, on the amount of work done. Furthermore, this option allows workers to regulate the time they dedicate to work based on the money they could require on a specific period. Secondly, another strong point of self-employment is the desired-by-many flexible hours. It is more regular for people with independent jobs to work for targets instead of following a predetermined schedule, which may enable more adaptation possibilities when facing external situations. For example, when my uncle was in the hospital, the only reason I could keep him company on a regular basis was that I could postpone my duties and then address them while he slept; a possibility that may encourage many to start working independently.

Nevertheless, there also are significant disadvantages of being one’s own boss. To begin with, it is harder to keep a constant working schedule; even if the beginning and end of work hours are predefined, independent workers present more difficulties finishing their duties, especially if they work from home. Research shows that self-employed people tend to work between 10 and 12 hours a day, in contrast with an employee who would work 8 hours a day. Moreover, the risk is certainly higher; if personal savings are not managed properly, the absence of clients during an extended period of time might lead independent workers to the ruins.

In conclusion, the choice of working independently has gained popularity during the last decades. An option that can be justified by the potentially higher incomes and the flexible working hours that characterize self-employment. The disadvantages, however, are also noteworthy, encompassing a higher risk of economic failure and extended working hours if the organization is not optimal.