S. Dex et al., Freelance workers and contract uncertainty: The effects of contractual changes in the television industry, WORK EMPLOY, 14(2), 2000, pp. 283-305
Changes in the competitive and regulative conditions of British television
over the 1980s and 1990s make for an environment of increased uncertainty f
or those who work in television. Broadcasting legislation, increased compet
ition and technological advances have changed the working practices of the
UK's 28,000 production workforce. The introduction of a 25 per cent quota o
f independent productions on all terrestrial channels, the implementation o
f Producer Choice in the BBC and the creation of a Network Centre in ITV, l
eading to a new commissioning process along with merger rationalisation and
increasing competition have all contributed to constructing a workforce in
which over 50 per cent are freelance and face much uncertainty. This paper
focuses on some of the ways workers have experienced and responded to thes
e changes by analysing the postal questionnaire and diary-data collected in
an eight-wave panel study of 436 creative production workers in British te
levision 1994-97, collected by the British Film Institute.
This paper considers whether uncertainty is a problem and finds that it is
for the majority of these workers. The question of what makes uncertainty a
problem is also considered. Individuals were found to cope with uncertaint
y by diversifying the income sources, by collecting infomation, building in
formal networks and by thinking of leaving work in television.