Summary
FMTW held a meeting online this morning, discussing the response to the launch of the Big Freelancer Survey 2023 report, and what happens next.
Freelancers Make Theatre Work held a meeting online this morning, discussing the response to the launch of the Big Freelancer Survey 2023 report, and what happens next.
There was a lively conversation around what FMTW can and can’t do – what mandate, if any, do we have to speak on behalf of the freelance workforce, which contains many diverse, and sometimes contradictory, voices? The contrast with the role and function of a Union is interesting, and there is some overlap. But ultimately, where a Union has a mandate to speak for its members with one voice, FMTW’s role is far more about listening to the whole workforce, and amplifying the voices within it.
That’s what the Big Freelancer Survey aims to do, and its focus on the qualitative data – the individual stories related by freelancers from their day-to-day experience of working in the industry – is a crucial aspect of that, and what makes it such a powerful process. FMTW aims to listen to, support, and advocate for the freelance workforce; and the first link in that chain will always be the listening.
There’ll be more thoughts on this, and a more detailed look at various aspects of the survey results, over the coming weeks. In the meantime, if you have anything to let us know, any opinions, concerns or ideas on the current state of the industry and its future, please get in touch – our doors are always open.