The plan to end all legal COVID-19 restrictions in England marks a key moment in the country’s battle against the virus. It suggests that the era of lockdowns, social distancing and perhaps even mask-wearing, is over. It’s impossible to rule out a new variant coming along and forcing us back into our homes but it’s clear that the government will be very reluctant to reintroduce restrictions. For businesses, including those within the marketing and advertising sector, this week’s announcement hints at a possible wide-scale return to the office, but not everyone is rushing back.

The ‘return to normality’ is unlikely to mean a return to pre-pandemic working practices for all. For many, perhaps even the majority, ‘the new-normal’ will be a hybrid of office and home working. Workers have gotten used to the flexibility that remote working has provided them during lockdown and many are reluctant to return to the old way of doing things. Managers too have recognised the efficiency of home working and can see it has its advantages, though there are still firms out there that are beginning to ratchet up the pressure on staff to be at their office desks by 9am.

For marketers, the ending of restrictions and the reopening of the office also doesn’t solve the issues that some currently have with their job. And despite the introduction of hybrid working over the past year, a significant number are now reconsidering their position, with research finding that almost half of marketers are thinking about quitting their job - a further 75% believe that the sector has a wave of resignations coming.

The case for self-employment

Despite many of these workers switching from one agency to another, a significant number of resignations will be marketers desiring even greater flexibility and independence. While marketing agencies such as Evolved Search, Blink and flocc have responded to the demands for greater flexibility by opening up four-day working week trials, these schemes won’t be enough for some.

Instead, a significant number of marketers will be wanting to have the independence and freedom to manage their own workload and to pick the clients they work with by going self-employed. In fact, IPSE research published earlier this month found that nearly one in six (15.8%) freelancers said that their experience working remotely during the pandemic directly led to them becoming a freelancer. Of these, almost six in 10 (57%) former full-time workers are earning more than before and nearly three quarters (74%) are happier.

For agencies and in-house marketing teams, any move from full-time work to self-employment might seem worrying, as it reduces their control and puts marketers outside of their own internal culture. However, self-employment has a number of benefits for workers and clients alike. First and foremost, freelancing provides marketing and advertising agencies and in-house marketing teams with dynamism and ideas and it gives people more choices over the clients that they work for. Compared to external agencies and full-time staff, self-employed marketers are also less risky. They can be more easily replaced and they can provide a unique outside opinion on existing marketing campaigns.

As agencies and in-house marketing teams assess the future of work following the end of COVID-19 restrictions, they must look towards the talent and expertise of freelancers. While hybrid working and the four-day working week trails continue to dominate headlines, they aren’t the only options available for companies within the marketing and advertising sector. Self-employment offers the marketing industry insight, dynamism and flexibility. For those thinking about becoming a freelancer, self-employment gives workers the chance to build on the liberation they enjoyed during lockdown by becoming truly independent and setting their workloads and choosing the clients they want to work with.