Freelancing as an involuntary form of employment for young professionals

This article casts doubt on the hypothesis regarding the voluntary choice of freelancing as a form of employment and the preservation of independence among individuals engaged in it. The issue under investigation is explored in the domestic literature from the perspective of precarious employment, which is becoming a lifestyle and enables workers to perform labor tasks independent of specific locations and times. The aim of the article is to analyze freelancing as a form of employment among young professionals. The empirical basis is constituted by a monitoring study of graduates from 2017 to 2023 (n = 8,938) from a large Russian university. The results of the study indicate that freelancing is more frequently used by youth as a supplementary form of employment (16.3 %), underscoring its involuntary nature. The findings reveal low prospects for an increase in the proportion of highly qualified specialists engaged in freelancing, as only 4.7 % of workers use it as their primary means of employment; similar values have been observed over the past seven years of measurement. A typology of employed individuals is proposed: organizational worker, independent worker, and involuntary freelancer. The materials contribute to the advancement of scientific understanding regarding youth employment, particularly freelancing, in the context of a rapidly changing labor market.