By Jacob Dubé
My time at The Eyeopener is almost over, which ultimately means my temporary work contract is also up.
While I’ve enjoyed all the perks and prestige that comes with running a campus newspaper out of a building with wonky air conditioning, the deadline of my year-long term has been looming over me.
It often feels like I’m pushing a boulder up a hill that ends in a steep cliff—get the work in, and still end up in a free fall.
There’s no other way it could work here; the production cycle of a student newspaper demands for new blood and fresh ideas, and I’m more than happy to step aside and ring in my successor.
But what’s disheartening is that’s the way it works everywhere else, too. Our features section this week dives into the transition of jobs—especially those available to students and recent graduates.
It’s moving from full-time positions with benefits to freelanced, contracted jobs where you don’t know if you’ll be employed in a month.
While we often assume freelance work is usually done by media and arts majors, a 2016 study found that the most in-demand sectors for freelance jobs were medical and health, education, project management, computer and IT, and ac-counting and finance.
The shift is typically caused by companies trying to save a few bucks, and it’s working. To a hungry student, a fickle job is better than no job at all. The same could be said of a hungry journalist.
We shouldn’t just be happy taking whatever we can get. If all work is headed towards being this precarious, think about what it’ll look like in a the future if nobody pushes back.
In a few months, I’ll be starting a new job. While I’m still very excited for the work I’ll be able to do there, it’s still temporary.
I can keep myself busy for a while, but I will eventually be met with the cliff’s edge once again.And frankly, I don’t know how many more times I’ll be able to handle that
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