Passion or paycheck: freelancers' search for meaningful work

Abstract

Singapore has been globally recognised for its highly productive and efficient workforce, dominated by the traditional full-time employment model. However, in contemporary times, the gig economy is a rising phenomenon; more people are engaging in freelance work either full-time or as side jobs. In this research, I explore the motivations behind freelance work, how it is experienced and its effects on freelancers’ well-being. Drawing on interviews with 16 freelancers in Singapore, I illustrate how work (or vocational) identity and emotional experiences shape freelancers’ notions of meaningful work. Overall, findings reveal that meaningful work is often associated with time flexibility and passion-seeking rather than purely economic means to an end. Since their well-being is highly dependent on identity verification, freelancers also attempt to reconstruct the stigma associated with freelance work. This study offers insight to how freelancers subjectively define what constitutes meaningful work, and how freelancing allows them to achieve it.