Abstract:
Sri Lankan government is allocating a large budget annually to develop multi-skilled
Information Technology professionals, but when it comes to the IT freelancers, it
was with enough evidence that IT industry is not receiving full benefit from them.
Many Sri Lankans are listed in the freelance market sites but only a fraction of them
are actually working. This study was carried out to identify the obstacles behind the
freelancing community and to recommend the steps to be taken to improve
freelancing as a prestigious profession. This study is executed from the freelancer’s
point of view and considered most of the freelancing activities done online. A sample
of 300 was selected and the sampling method is simple random sampling. Factor
Analysis was used to analyze the data collected through a structured questionnaire.
Factors were extracted using Principal Component Analysis method and rotated
using Varimax method. Results found that 3-factor model is suitable to explain
association among 14 variables. The identified three factors are “Freelance Market
Restraints”, “Professional Restraints” and “Social and Personal Restraints”.
Freelance Market Restraints increase with increasing scores for lack of individual
competencies, round the clock coverage, nonpayment risk, solitude, no form of
strategic planning, lot of legwork and variable income. Professional Restraints
increase with increasing scores for health hazards, no employer benefits,
contradictory feedback and lack of social recognition. Social and Personal Restraints
increase with increasing scores for difficult to allocate work time, misbeliefs and no
assistance. The results indicated that policymakers should pay attention to areas such
as nonpayment risk, lack of social recognition, lack of opportunity to grow and poor
working conditions to make them productive for the country. Increase commitment,
develop problem-solving skills, use social media and reward loyal customers are the
factors to be considered by the freelancers for long term presence.
