OPINION - Why choose a full-time job when freedom is so much fun?

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With stagnant wages and office life losing its appeal, men are increasingly questioning the traditional nine-to-five in favour of flexibility and freedom

With stagnant wages and office life losing its appeal, men are increasingly questioning the traditional nine-to-five in favour of flexibility and freedom

Eight years ago I worked in an office that sometimes felt like a prison run by demons. On occasion I’d be freed for sleep, and a few pennies would be thrown my way as hush money for the mental torture I’d endured. A few hours later, morning would come, and I’d return promptly at nine for a lashing. As an emotional outlet I cried in the loos, smoked like a chimney and mainlined Diet Cokes — life was, essentially, bleak.

While my mother entered the working world in the 1980s when life was awash with power suits, Quaaludes and money trees, corporate life no longer provides the same monetary gains, stability, or lifestyle guarantee that it did, and people are noticing. Specifically, men.

According to a new survey, less than half of adults want to work full-time. And while women have remained steadfast in their dislike of corporate life, hovering at a lowly 38 per cent who want a nine-to-five, it’s the menfolk who’ve turned against suit life. While 77 per cent of men last year wanted full-time employment, this figure has sharply decreased to 62 per cent — and I don’t blame them.

Less than half of adults want to work full-time — and it is now the menfolk who have turned against suit life

As a self-employed person, it’s not a situation that’s always rainbows and butterflies. I’m having to dip into savings to cover taxes this year, I work while on holiday, and my pension is currently non-existent. I’m also not guaranteed a lump sum every month, I don’t get sick leave, people occasionally forget to pay me, and I can go an entire day without talking to anyone (sometimes a bonus) — but what I gain from my setup is something that doesn’t have a price tag. Freedom.

I take my children to school every day, pick them up, and this week I’m going to a matinee play on a Thursday with my stepfather.

While freedom has been attractive to…

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