Precarious Employment for Freelancers within the Television Industry

Research Briefing into the issue of precarious employment of freelancers within the UK broadcast Industry and its impact on ITV

An Organisational Insight Report for the ITV Board

by Lizzie Beadle BA Hons Media Production Level 6

Executive Summary

This report analyses the role freelancers play in the TV industry and the need for greater protection to ensure that the industry attracts and retains the best talent. It has been produced for ITV and will assess whether ITV is best in class for freelancer treatment, identity any shortcoming and recommend areas for improvements. It draws on wide range of scholarly and industry sources.

Introduction

The broadcast industry landscape is becoming more competitive as new providers enter the marketplace, challenging the role of established providers like ITV and BBC. Production costs are also rising, squeezing margins. Consequently, broadcasters are increasingly reliant on freelancers. Surprisingly, freelancers make up “90% of the production workforce in the UK”: (Wing-Fai, L., Gill, R. and Randle, K. 2015, p51). Freelancers are therefore a vital part of the industry - but despite this, their working conditions can be overlooked and in need of improvement. The precarious role of freelancers is a key issue for ITV, given 50% of its workforce are freelancers (Ofcom, 2019, p19). Improving ITV’s image with freelancers, will help ITV attract and retain the best talent, including through word-of-mouth recommendations. Moreover, ITV becoming a market leader and role model will improve its relationship with key stakeholders like Ofcom. This report expands on issues and common themes reported in academic studies and reports. It then looks at ITV specifically in terms of current policies and practices regarding freelancers, identifies any shortcomings and makes recommendations for improvements.

The Issue

Being a freelancer can be advantageous, offering greater freedom, opportunities to work on diverse projects and often a better pay. This suggest TV workers are not precarious, they are “autonomous workers” (De Peuter, 2011, p421) as they prefer work-life flexibility and “liberation” to “self-realization” (Norbäck, 2021, p426). However, “autonomous workers can always turn into precarious workers” (Terranova, 2006, p. 33) as working conditions are exploited and freelancers do not have the same benefits, protections and guarantees that permanent staff do. This means workers are overworked and struggle with temporary contracts. Additionally, freelancers feel they “lose a direct sense of creative autonomy” (Deuze, 2011. P9). Commissioners have a greater control of outsourcing and are likely to cut budgets by minimizing days and shortening contracts leading to longer hours and unpaid overtime. Although contracted work is meant to be inherently flexible still “95% think there should be more opportunities for flexible working”. The creative industry is an “Hourglass model” (Wing-Fai, L., Gill, R. and Randle, K. 2015, p54) which relies heavily on freelancers; however, the industry constantly neglects “labour issues” (De Peuter, p418). Project Pilot Report (Bowler, 2020) revealed “one-quarter of freelancers do over 70 hours a week” and “62% work more than their contracted hours”. This results from “overdeliver and underfunding” (The Talent Manager) taking place as “indies drive down costs to get commission” (Ibekwe, 2020) and commissioners turn “a blind-eye” to labour issues by greenlighting projects. This is a result of “flexploitation” which is “intermittent, irregular and informal working hours” (Strange & Shorthose, 2004, p47). The result is “a culture of fear” where freelancers feel powerless and the majority felt “expected” (State of Play Report, 2020) to work excessive hours “without additional payment” for overtime. This forces workers into “submission into the acceptance of exploitation” (Morgan, 2013, p403). These excessive work hours and uncertainty of short-term contracts make “76% feel stressed” (Dex, Willis, Paterson, Sheppard, 2000). These contracts can exclude freelancers based on gender and class leading to a struggle to maintain diverse workforces. One issue within the industry is the exclusion of mothers as “81% of the Precarious Employment for Freelancers within the Television Industry 5 industry haven't got dependent children” (Wing-Fai & Gill & Randle, 2015, p6). There is little childcare support within the 24/7 industry, with few nurseries offering night shifts last-minute. These contracts further exclude lower socioeconomic backgrounds who cannot afford long periods out of work. During the pandemic when “93% of freelancers were out of work” (The Looking Glass Report, 2020), “two-thirds of freelancers received no government financial support” (Dalton, 2020). The Screenskills Freelance Survey (2020) indicated the majority were negatively affected due to “lack of financial and legal advice”. This highlights that without stability and reliable income, it's difficult for people to remain within the industry. Increasing mental wellbeing support within the industry can help give an individual their sense of agency and flexibility. More than half “felt they lack control” (The Looking Glass Report, 2020) over decisions making it difficult to keep up with excessive work schedules. This lack of support and control around overworking is a result of “dehumanization”. The Looking Glass Report (Wilkes, M., Carey, H. and Florisson, R., 2020) identifies “62% said work intensity negatively impacted their mental wellbeing” but “only a third of the industry felt able to seek support”. However, Lisa (The Talent Manager, 2021) worries in her training there was a refusal to recognise that overworked hours, produced exhaustion, can influence mental health by increasing stress. Prolonged stress in an unsupportive environment can lead to long-term issues such as depression and suicide. Sarah Mulvery, a Channel 4 Executive, "suffered depression from post-traumatic stress disorder, which resulted in her suicide" (Dowell, B., 2012). The Looking Glass Survey indicates higher proportions of freelancers (⅔) experienced depression compared to general public (⅖) explaining why "66 percent of freelancers have thought about leaving the industry". Ultimately for a freelancer the fear of their contract being terminated, and their reputation being tarnished is overwhelming. The entertainment industry also makes it difficult to stand up against management, directors and presenters. The main issue affecting freelancers is not only “the legal status of the freelance worker being complex” (Wynne, 2015, p115) but that they are also unwilling and scared to use the Precarious Employment for Freelancers within the Television Industry 6 rights they already have as they fear they “lack internal protection” and “42% felt it would affect their career prospects''. This explains why “61% of witnessed incidents are not reported” (State of Play Report). This has emerged through “risk society” that has “handed back management to the risk of the individual '' (Morgan, 2013, p402). This suggests why “59% felt productions were only managed well half the time” (The State of Play Report, 2020) as “80% felt they had no one to report to, care for them or protect'' (Edinburgh Film Festival, 2020). Inadequate management is a result of inconsistent "availability of information", conveying "open, honest and accountable decisions'' (Ball, 2009, p296) for freelancers to understand the culture of the organisation, management structure and the production process. Many hold the view that transparency can be improved through whistleblowing “exposing information relating to activities within an organization that are unethical, illegal or wrong” (Ahmed-Rangers, Anderson, Halatova, Shumailov, 2020). This suggests exploitation continues due to a lack of open communication and transparency that make it difficult for contractors to flag concerns. However, Stinchcombe (1990) suggests “uncertainty changes if people gain more information”. Neil Carberry, Director for People and Skills at the CBI (Booth, R 2016) suggests lack of information is due to “mass casualisation” and without these casualisations and a good management “no form of employment contract is problematic and precarious”. To improve casualisation within management, training is important due to the “media landscape requiring new skills” (Bibby, 2014). However, as little as “19% receiving professional training” and “70% in managing roles have not received training” (The State of Play Report, 2020). Therefore, freelancers must “learn through participation” (Grugulis, I, Stoyanova, D, 201, p343) thus explaining why uncertainty continues. Management and training need to get better for recruitment to become more standardized. According to the State of Play Report, “76% are getting in through nepotism” due to personal connections compared to a “formal job advertisement of 16%”. As well as making it harder for others to break into the industry it maintains the status quo within the workforce reducing content diversity. This disrupts the meritocracy suggesting why “73% of respondents felt recruitment practices in TV are Precarious Employment for Freelancers within the Television Industry 7 unfair” (State of Play Report, 2020). An industry standard needs to exist for fair recruitment of talent to ensure a diverse range of content.

ITV’s Organisational Insights

ITV is an “integrated producer broadcaster” (HOC Digital Cultural and Sports Committee, p4) distributed across multiple channels. ITV depends on using the skills of freelancers within the commissioning process (See Appendix E). Therefore, it is important to address freelancers' precarious employment and provide solutions to improve the situation as “half ITV's workforce are freelancers'' (Ofcom Report, 2019, p19). It's important to know what strategies ITV have in place to meet their “Promise” (See Appendix C) “striving to create a positive, inclusive supportive environment for the freelance community”.

Examining ITV’S Internal Functions and Systems

ITV embraces social media by sharing new information to their website to “increase absorptive capacity” (Schlagwein, 2017, p195) so ITV can remain transparent. Under their governance page, ITV reviews social policy three times a year and the PLC board annually suggesting ITV is being responsible and accountable. Furthermore, ITV conducted a materiality assessment (See Appendix G) to ensure social purpose policy is relevant with stakeholder needs. However, the shortcoming with this assessment is that the Stakeholder Engagement (See Appendix F) does not address freelancers separately. This limits the understanding of how freelancers are managed and reduces freelancers understanding of resources available. However, scholars argue “Deviation has always been a problem of governance” (Lovink, G., & Rossiter, N. P14). Organisational collaboration is key so “attitudes, values and behaviours” need to be addressed for “outcome of success” (Huxham, 2003, p410). “Duty of Care Charter 2021”, “Modern Slavery Statement” and “Diversity and Inclusion Strategy” all reflects ITV value and commitment to leadership and support for employees and contractors. It discusses freelancer’s vulnerability to exploitation and poor labour practices. It stresses they use “fair recruitment practices” which are transparent on their website (See Appendix D). It reveals their “mandatory training” but employees and Precarious Employment for Freelancers within the Television Industry 8 freelancers reported differing experiences on Glassdoor saying there was little training on labour issues (See Appendix H). ITV also has a “Speaking Up Policy” for freelancers to anonymously report corporate issues. This helped freelancers report harassment issues from ITV presenter Piers Morgan (Ravindran, 2021). However, in my opinion one major flaw is there is no zero-tolerance policy against harassment. Positively, ITV requires freelancers as well as other contractors to “comply with ITV code of conduct” (ITV, 2020, p6) but again the code of conduct should have more specific sections about freelancers to reduce ambiguity. Regarding diversity, in the Ofcom Report (p19), ITV did not report data but encouraged freelancers to voluntarily provide diversity data to online “CDN Diamond monitoring system”. This raise concerns as ITV may not have full understanding of the diversity of their freelance workforce. That said, this did provide up to date data on diversity to reflect this fast-paced industry. At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, production was forced to stop, resulting in freelancers being left without income. For ITV this created an issue due to unclear legal status meaning freelancers were not initially included in the government furlough. As a result, ITV asked the government to “provide a package of support to freelancers covering 95% of freelancers'' (Grater, 2020). Also, ITV instigated an initiative to provide “£500k development funds'' (Cunningham, 2020) to indies which will help freelancers as well as alleviating the issue of underfunding on projects. Overall, I feel ITV has started to address the significant issues freelancers have in the media industry.

Examining ITV’S External Output of Institutional bodies

ITV have joined forces with Institutional bodies including trade unions to “pledge to improve working practices for freelancers” (Lodderhose, 2021). The BECTU Union represents “40,000 workers” and has pledged more opportunities and advice. Freelancers are more willing to accept unions as they “mitigate market failures” as they understand the complicated “dispersed working arrangements” (Wynne, 2015, p114). However, several unions have reported “work is harder to find for freelance members” (Bibby, 2020). Precarious Employment for Freelancers within the Television Industry 9 ITV has also signed the “Coalition for Change” (2020) which was sponsored by TV Mindset to create equal opportunities for freelancers. This freelance charter is “built over time” to work in parallel with the industry. Although, the success cannot be measured as the “first iteration” of the annual survey has not been published. As part of the coalition for change, “The time Project” (Swords and Ozimek, 2020) has been established to gather data on overworked hours. ITV has also signed the “Let’s reset campaign” set up by a Film and TV Charity which is a yearlong programme to help combat the stigma surrounding mental health and providing “24/7 support helpline”.

Research Process

To evaluate the issue for ITV, I had reviewed secondary sources from academic and grey literature to gain a more detailed understanding of the issues faced by freelancers. Data sources have been cross examined to establish common themes, with key sources being The Looking Glass, State of Play and the Screenskills Freelance Survey Report. This enabled me to synthesize precarious employment and understand the gaps where improvements are needed. To evaluate issues in ITV I addressed the Glassdoor reviews as well as looking at what ITV have implemented to combat the issue. However, it is important to note these studies have limitations as they have different research questions and some outdated.

Discussion

This paper asks if the working conditions in ITV have deteriorated for freelancers and if this has increased employment uncertainty. It is clear most freelancers believe uncertainty is a huge problem. The main reasons for insecurity within employment has been mass casualisation, lack of transparency and deregulation. This is a result of the unregulated market “risk society” (Beck, 1992) that means “increasing risks are passed to the freelance workforce instead of broadcasters”. The broadcasters, in contrast, achieve “success through outsourcing” as a freelancer is cheaper than a full-time employee.

One problem is that the nature of freelancer work is complex due to unreliable contract work. As Miller (2020) argues “planning your career cannot be predicted” due to short term contracts and there can be “long periods without work”. Alongside short contracts, freelancers are likely to have multiple commitments to different contracts leading to instability. Elliot quoted on the freelancer debate (Ibekwe, 2020) “it becomes a nightmare to juggle different commitments”. In response to this uncertainty freelancers make their own strategies and coping mechanisms by creating “portfolio-based careers” and having “informal contacts”. However, this informal approach means it's hard for new freelancers to break through into the industry as well as freelancers becoming alienated to work longer unpaid hours. This nature of outsourcing promotes “fear of job losses” which creates “knock on uncertainty” (Dex, p285) as freelancers don't have a steady income flow. This suggests why it's known as a “Brave new world of work” (Gill, R., & Pratt, A, 2008).

Another consistent issue I found is freelancers’ rights are not separated from employees and are consistently ignored in policies and reports. There is consistent evidence to back up my claims from other studies that there is not enough support for freelancers compared to employees within an organisation. Freelancers often work outside of union standards and are “perceived by managers as more disposable than employees” (Blair, 2001, p153). Furthermore, The Annual Screen Skills Assessment (2019) suggests “only a third of surveyed employers are able to provide training for freelancers, compared to 84% for in-house employees”. This suggests there is a major loophole with differentiating the rights between employees and freelancers. This supports Wynn (2015, p115) study where “freelancers felt they do not have access to training”. This research suggests there needs to be more development on mandatory training which ITV says it offers to freelancers. This training of roles will benefit teams and collaboration of work so freelancers in management can provide better ways of managing a team. However, I would suggest more reports need to take place within ITV to understand how efficient their training is for freelancers.

Although there were many sources to indicate there is precarity of employment amongst freelancers, my hypothesis could be incorrect arguing there's “too many Precarious Employment for Freelancers within the Television Industry 11 external factors that can transform it unpredictably” (Miller, 2020, p102) as monitoring the workforce amongst diversity can be inadequate. My initial expectation was I thought work related uncertainty was a problem. However, I found in Dex’s (p289) study “a smaller group [⅕] enjoyed uncertainty” saying it “spurred creativity”. The freelance debate (Ibewke, 2020) suggests some freelancers are attracted to “fluidity between jobs” and “picking and choosing interesting projects”. Although they like the unpredictable, they agree “longer periods notice for cancellations” and “Clearer definition of hours” within terms and conditions.

Uncertainty only becomes a problem when there are conflicts with “individual variables” like age, class, gender, race become a barrier to success. Precarious employment is more of a problem amongst women, older people, and those of lower social class. A scholar argues, “cultural workers need to possess high levels of cultural capital in order to succeed” (Lee, 2011, p552) as only they have the opportunities through networking and ‘nepotism’. Some Postmodernist Scholars would also argue there’s no such thing as precarious employment as creating freelance works allows “promotion of individualism and people's rights to shape their careers” (Miller, 2020) giving them freedom and autonomy. These conflicts occur because of unfair working conditions and lack of support for freelancers.

To improve upon the research process, I could be overly critical as I can only comment on what is published externally and the secondary resources that were out there. However, having said that, I still believe it is necessary for freelancers to have easy access to understand their rights, so they feel as valued as permanent staff. Therefore, I would recommend exploring the difference between employees and why freelancers are more likely to feel uncertain in the TV Job Market. My recommendation for the next phase is to conduct primary qualitative research interviews to look at the issue more in detail within ITV. Firstly, comparing experiences of employees and freelancers within ITV and a cross section of managing staff that are responsible for managing freelancers. Furthermore, interviews with all internal and external board members to understand more about how they are working with freelancers. This can then be cross analysed so ITV can learn through their competitors how to improve their standards for freelancers within their organizational strategies and policies.

Recommendations

• A third-party organisation recognised by Ofcom to monitor, review and support statistics recruitment strategies to address diversity.

• The Ofcom Diversity report states ITV uses the “Diamond Approach” to report diversity however it relies on the freelancers to input their information and doesn’t share stats with Ofcom.

• Freelancers should be stakeholders and a specific working group (separate to employees) within ITV’s governance strategy.

• To cross analyse with other competitor broadcasters like BBC, their user interface has a whole page dedicated to freelancers on their website making it clear on their opportunities, training, payee schemes, contracts, etc. ITV hasn't adopted a section like this, so it becomes difficult to navigate. This is an important suggestion, as a freelancer you want to work somewhere that has the clearest information based on their rights.

• Create a benchmark strategy to annually survey key stakeholders including freelancer to monitor improvements overtime.

• This survey will constantly engage with freelance community to see if there is good ethical working practices and measure the success of policies introduced and where there needs to be improvements.

• For instance, Competitor, Channel 4 are talking about creating a ‘Freelance Response Package’ that provides pop in, mentoring and masterclasses. This could be implemented by ITV to ensure KPI can be measured.

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Appendices