Well, this is bad news for me and a lot of other people who work in the "gig economy" (aka freelancing) -- as of 1/1/2020, a new regulation in California aiming to make employers treat independent contractors the same as employees (i.e., giving them health benefits, overtime, etc.) is actually having the OPPOSITE effect, at least in my case. The home transcription company I've been working with for the past couple of years told me today that after 12/31/19, they'll be kicking all their California workers off the payroll!!
In my case, it's not such a big deal -- I don't depend on the payments I get from them, it's just a little extra $$ and a way to keep my skills up to date. But a lot of other people who really need the $$ are going to have a rough time. Hoping we can get this law overturned!!
Independent contractors in California getting the shaft!
There seems always a need for transcription services. I hope that the demand makes room for improvement in some way.
My LibriVox: https://librivox.org/sections/readers/13278
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stoogeswoman
- Posts: 889
- Joined: February 10th, 2016, 10:02 am
Well, I used to be a full-time office worker doing transcription, word processing, and all sorts of other types of data entry work, all together in one job. Nowadays those jobs tend to be "crowdsourced," paid per task, and of course way less pay.
The demand is definitely still there but the ways of getting transcripts done has completely changed. Which is fine -- the "gig economy" has its benefits as well as its drawbacks. For example, in spite of the low pay, I have the benefit of choosing what to work on every day, and even deciding *whether* to work that day. I wouldn't have that in a traditional 9-5 job. I like having that freedom and don't mind the tradeoffs.
The demand is definitely still there but the ways of getting transcripts done has completely changed. Which is fine -- the "gig economy" has its benefits as well as its drawbacks. For example, in spite of the low pay, I have the benefit of choosing what to work on every day, and even deciding *whether* to work that day. I wouldn't have that in a traditional 9-5 job. I like having that freedom and don't mind the tradeoffs.