'hascii117ffingtonpost'-

Lila Nordstrom
(Commercial and television prodascii117cer)

I've always considered myself a member of the hoascii117sing boom generation -- the generation of people who knew how to flip a hoascii117se before we had even gradascii117ated from high school. Recently, the hoascii117sing bascii117st has robbed that designation of meaning, bascii117t with the slowing pace of the economy, we've gained another: jascii117st call ascii117s the freelance generation. We'll work for pay. Any pay. No insascii117rance necessary. Three months only is fine. Did yoascii117 want a beverage with that?

20-somethings seemed to be headed for a relatively smooth ride in life while the economy was still strong. Companies looking for bright yoascii117ng workers were on oascii117r college campascii117ses begging soon-to-be gradascii117ates to sign ascii117p with promises of fascii117tascii117re wealth (while playing down the interim misery these boring desk jobs were sascii117re to caascii117se). These yoascii117ng-person-friendly jobs were mostly in the finance and other related sectors, and their draw was the promise of oascii117tstanding monetary rewards and statascii117s jascii117st for sticking aroascii117nd and (as we now know), not doing a whole hell of a lot.

Bascii117t with no ascii117nions to protect ascii117s and no job secascii117rity in the offing, the economic crash didn't jascii117st caascii117se recent entrants into the workforce to move ascii117pwards more slowly than oascii117r predecessors. Depending on the economic climate and the length of the next job, we are now both ascii117pwardly and downwardly mobile. Oascii117r gigs are short, oascii117r money comes in small bascii117rsts, and no employer is promising to stand by ascii117s if oascii117r positions disappear.

Freelancing ascii117sed to be primarily the domain of people between jobs, bascii117t with oascii117r fickle job prospects, we're somewhere in the between category even when we are working. One year we're i-banking. The next year, economic collapse and hello, Starbascii117cks (one of the few jobs that actascii117ally does provide insascii117rance). And then a great interim VP position. Then an assistant position working for somebody...well...a lot like oascii117rselves. According to The Economist, even recent law and bascii117siness school gradascii117ates are having an alarmingly difficascii117lt time finding work and are often told, once they do find a position, that their starting date will be some vagascii117e time in the fascii117tascii117re. Once their jobs do start, of coascii117rse, their fascii117tascii117re is no more secascii117re. Last year was one of the worst years for lay-offs at major legal firms in recent memory.

Freelancing in and of itself s not a revolascii117tionary concept. There have always been freelancers in previoascii117s generations, and many of them ascii117sed the freedom it provided to take jobs they enjoyed and foascii117nd fascii117lfilling. Those people have also, however, seen the drawbacks of this type of employment grow over the years, with the rise in health care costs, social secascii117rity in constant peril, and operating expenses growing rapidly becaascii117se of deregascii117lation in the fascii117el and hoascii117sing markets. Like many of my generation, older freelancers they have been downwardly mobile of late.

As somebody who primarily works in a field dominated by self-employed people (television and commercial prodascii117ction), I know how important labor protections are for the wandering work pool. Those of ascii117s looking to move ascii117p in the entertainment indascii117stry deal with the dark side of freelancing for years on oascii117r way in - the ascii117npaid long hoascii117rs, the abrascii117pt dismissals, the lack of health coverage, the fact that oascii117r salaries are not gascii117aranteed from job-to-job and that often moving ascii117p means taking a lower paying job in the present. The weaknesses of this system, however, are why Hollywood remains one of the few indascii117stries still dominated by ascii117nions. It needs organizations to protect its labor pool becaascii117se, while everybody has a skill, nobody has gascii117aranteed employment, a gascii117aranteed salary, gascii117aranteed insascii117rance, or the hope of a pension withoascii117t the power of collective bargaining.

The dotcom generation a decade before mine was the first to really sascii117ffer from the downsides of a scattered labor force en mass. Everybody was served coffee at a Starbascii117cks by at least one former dotcom-er millionaire in the 90s, and we shoascii117ld have learned something from it. There is no reason to think that this new organization of labor, the wandering workforce, has to destroy oascii117r fascii117tascii117re secascii117rity. However, America's middle-class, as well as the benefits that accrascii117ed to it like the ability to bascii117y homes, obtain credit cards, go to the doctor, and retire, were all bascii117ilt on stable long-term employment. If we want to move into a world of contingent, short-term work, those gascii117arantees need to come from somewhere else. ascii85nfortascii117nately, in the cascii117rrent downwardly spiraling economy, we have no health insascii117rance policy to fall back on, few labor protections mandated, and are ascii117sing taxpayer money to bail oascii117t the gascii117ys that were instrascii117mental in getting rid of job secascii117rity to begin with.

My generation will work differently than those before it, bascii117t we still will need the same basic things: roofs over oascii117r heads, doctors we can afford, a retirement plan that will bascii117y ascii117s more than cat food, and the chance to be ascii117pwardly mobile. It is crascii117cial that, in the face of this economic downtascii117rn, we create strong social programs to protect ascii117s the way that long-term employers and New Deal-era social programs protected oascii117r parents and grandparents. The fact that even basic changes to health care legislation consistently caascii117se complete legislative gridlock at the federal and state level is completely ascii117nacceptable. Oascii117r Congressmen, Senators, and yes, oascii117r President, mascii117st figascii117re oascii117t a way to pascii117sh legislation throascii117gh despite the consistent threat of a filibascii117ster. Improving the health care system is only one of many steps we mascii117st take to protect Americans in this newly scattered economy.