How Can Freelancers Handle Job Uncertainty During The COVID-19 Crisis?

Last updated on November 16th, 2021

Coronavirus spread has brought forth many complications for people besides the unfortunate sufferings and deaths. It has caused a set back to economies around the globe. Many people are confined to their homes in an attempt to enact social-distancing which is believed to be the most effective measure to subside the spread of this highly contagious virus. The pandemic has resulted in many small and big businesses closing down, getting people fired from their jobs, and an alarming increase in job insecurities. The time is even tough for freelancers. As per the current marketing conditions, they need to tackle the job uncertainty wisely.

Freelancers are the professional or amateur people who work independently to earn their livelihood.

They usually do not have a steady stream of income which obliges them to rely on their clients for new work and payments. But, they are flexible people with the amazing skill set to do work from home and deliver result-oriented projects.

Taking about the job uncertainty, the Coronavirus crisis has resulted in a huge job loss in the markets. According to the U.S. Travel Association, in the tour and travel industry, there will be a loss of 4.6 million jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic. The entertainment industry has already lost 120,000 jobs.

But working professionals are perhaps the worst hit. Many of them are hand-to-mouth with little savings. A staggering 3.28 million American people became unemployed and they applied for employment benefits recently in a week due to the COVID-19 crisis.

They are frantically looking for new work opportunities, which are harder to come nowadays. The biggest issue for them today is job uncertainty and how to deal with it effectively.

Now that this crisis seems to linger on for many more days, therefore, working professionals are choosing the path of freelancing to make money during such a crisis. Being a beginner or seasoned pro, freelancers need to act wisely to survive in the changed scenario.

Here Is What They Can Do To Deal With Job Uncertainty During Coronavirus Outbreak

01. Save Your Cash

The first thing you should ensure when dealing with job uncertainty is to evaluate your current financial standing.

If you saved money from freelancing jobs over the years, then you must manage it so that it lasts for at least a few months. This is because no one can tell how long the virus will continue to wreak havoc.

The best way to manage your savings is to start cutting back on your expenses right away. If, as a freelancer, you are a member of a union or organization, think of asking for some kind of help, including financial assistance.

02. Explore Financial Relief Funds

To meet the cash requirements during the coronavirus crisis, the government, as well as many private institutions, have come out with new funds. If you are under financial stress and need monetary support, then apply for the relief funds created especially for the COVID-19 circumstances.

Here Is A List Of Different Freelancers Relief Funds That You Can Seek To Have Cash On Hands

● Freelance Relief Fund

Freelance Relief Fund is set up by the Freelance Union, especially for the crisis. You can apply for financial assistance of up to $1000 per freelance household under this fund.

● The Creator Fund

ConvertKit has established The Creator Fund with $185,300 for self-employed people who are suffering job losses and other employment issues due to coronavirus outbreak.

● The Artist Fellowship Funds

You can explore this fund as well if you are an artist. You do not have to be a member of the group to get assistance.

● The Safety Net Fund

This fund offers a grant to artists without expecting repayment from them. They get direct financial support to deal with the crisis. Under this fund, an artist can get a maximum grant of $500 per person per month.

● The Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant

Self-employed people who are painters, printmakers, or sculptures can avail assistance for themselves through this relief fund.

● Rauschenberg Emergency Grants

This fund provides up to $5000 as a one-time grant for visual and media artists. If you fall under the category of these artists, you can apply for a grant that may go up to $15000, depending on some terms and conditions.

There are many other funds available to the freelancers from private organizations. Then, freelancers can seek financial help from the government in the form of small business loans. Overall, explore all such avenues to meet your expenses during the crisis.

03. Create Relevant Content

People are terrified these days due to the spread of coronavirus. They are staying home and taking all sorts of precautions to stay away from this disease. But they have more questions to ask and concerns to address.

You may not be getting fresh work assignments. Still, you can earn by helping people resolve their coronavirus related woes. So, create relevant content around this disease and give them the solutions.

For instance, if you are a freelance writer, think of writing blogs on new coronavirus developments. Those who work as freelance photographers, they can post photos about the people concerned about the virus, besides doing other creative images.

Similarly, if you are a home-based merchandise designer, then create more YouTube videos to inform viewers about the new fitness merch designs that center around the disaster.

Do not forget that when one window closes, the other window of opportunity opens. For instance, schools are closed due to the virus and social distancing. But at the same time, parents are looking for tutorials online to compensate their kids for the loss of studies.

So, as a freelancer, you can start tutorial classes for the students online. Fitness instructors, makeup stylists, and other such freelancers can give tutorials through their videos.

04. Connect With Your Network Even More

You never know how long the coronavirus crisis will continue. Therefore, you should connect with your fellow freelancers and other people in your network strongly. They can suggest to you the clients and even offer you new work assignments.

The crisis has shown how closely interconnected we all are. You may be a freelancer but you are still connected to the full-time employees and small businesses. So, talk to them and send your messages that you need to work on.

05. Plan And Learn Extra Skills

Do not waste your self-quarantine time at home doing nothing. While you enjoy valuable time with family and entertainment, also focus on utilizing the days to learn some additional skills or add more to what you already know. Remember that extra skills can help you get more freelance jobs, and you will earn additional income in the future.

How about joining an online training curriculum to get training in your field of interest? That is the best possible way to utilize the time at home to enhance your job prospects. When finally the pandemic is over, this skill will help you even get a regular day job.

Note also that every industry needs people who have certifications for jobs. So, take online skill courses to get trained for more valuable jobs.

06. Update Your Resume

It may be that in the pre-coronavirus days, you never thought of updating your resume as you were getting new jobs regularly from old clients. But now that the old clients are no longer giving the same amount of work, you should update your resume with new skills you learned. You should add the recent works you did and other information. That may help you get new freelance assignments.

07. Keep Your Moral High

At this point, no one can say about how long the coronavirus crisis will last. It may even take months before it is finally out of our minds.

This means that you should be prepared to keep good mental health as you will be missing doing your routine things out in the sun. On top of that, as a freelancer, you may not have much work at hand.

Therefore, this is also the time to have a look at the lives of some achievers for inspiration. They are the ones who went through a difficult period before tasting success. These motivational figures are some public figures and companies.

Individuals like Richard Branson, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, Michelle Obama, and companies like Apple, Disney, and General Electric faced hardships but emerged up as winners in the end.

Consider these tips for tackling your worries during the COVID-19 crisis. You must have patience as the crisis will take its own time before it is removed from your life.

Wrapping Up

Freelancers are creative people, but they are vulnerable as well since they depend on clients for fresh assignments. Now that the coronavirus outbreak has left many people, including freelancers, jobless, they need to spend the quarantine time at home learning more skills to handle job uncertainty. Create relevant content related to coronavirus to sell online. They should spend their savings carefully and apply for freelancer relief funds if required. Most importantly, remain closely connected to your network for work and any other assistance.