After a couple of years of lockdowns, restrictions, and long periods of isolation, the whole world feels ready for change. And one of the upshots of this strange and unprecedented time is that people are deciding to leave their jobs in record numbers. Many, according to surveys, are searching for more flexibility – to work on their time and not on the time of someone else. If you’re like these lifestyle renegades, then you’ll be searching for flexible work to complement your other ambitions. This guide introduces three of the best options for those changing tracks to flexible working.
Couriers
You’ll know to form your own online shopping experience just how many times a courier is heading to your home to deliver groceries, clothes, and other goods. For those who shop almost entirely online, this will happen at least once a day. The people powering this trend are couriers – people who perform shipping jobs to get products from
A to B.
And many couriers work on a freelance, flexible basis, picking up shipping jobs that suit their schedule. Jobs for drivers are often advertised on large websites that you can browse to find shifts and shipping jobs that suit you. And if you’re more interested in steady work, you can sign up with a large retailer or e-commerce website, where you’ll still be offered flexible shift patterns and part-time work.
Freelancing
For those who have the skill to bring to the market, freelancing is an excellent way to earn on a flexible basis. As most experienced freelancers will tell you, this flexibility can mean both periods with little to do and periods where you’re working 12-hour days. But the key to freelancing is that you’re usually able to set your own rates and draw your own lines in the sand about where, when, and on what you work.
In the modern world, more and more freelancers are also choosing to live abroad, in what’s being dubbed “Digital Nomadism”. So if you’re looking for both flexible work and flexible living conditions, this might be the career for you – one in which you can pick and choose every aspect of your lifestyle to fit around the work you love.
Agencies
There are several different types of agency. If you’re just starting in your career, there are simply employment agencies that will send you out on specific, short-term posts, which you can accept or reject when they’re offered to you. Then there are the agencies that cater to established professionals, which will often send you to part-time consulting jobs.
These agencies often take a cut of the pay that you receive, but they’re worth being in touch with, given the world of opportunities that they can introduce you to. Find the right agency for your skill level, explain to them that you’re looking for work that’s flexible, and start earning on your own terms, with days off built into your lifestyle as standard.
There you have it: three routes to a more flexible working life in the coming months and years.
