Founder of Freelancer Club and voice of the #NoFreeWork campaign, Matt Dowling, was interviewed for RTE Radio 1 for the Business Show. 

Before we look into why so many freelancers accept unpaid work, let’s look at why it exists in the first place. Businesses by their very nature (and often by necessity) try to keep costs down to help turn a profit. The mentality, particularly in a recession, is not to find the best person for the job but to find the cheapest person for the job and when talented freelancers are willing to work for free it's a no-brainer for the employer.

#NOFREEWORK presents Club Connections. When co-working space, Work.Life, and photojournalist Lihee Avidan combine, beautiful things happen.

Over 1000 freelancers participated in our #NOFREEWORK survey and the results are in. To say the outcome is shocking is an understatement. We always knew there was a problem with freelancers working for free but we never realised the extent of the issue.

  Through many months of research, interviews with industry leaders, personal experience and listening to thousands of you whom we’ve supported over the years, we are proud to announce the official Freelancer Club campaign that says NO TO FREE WORK. 

It's been a long road thus far to spread the message of NO FREE WORK but it seems our cries have been heard.

Join our #NOFREEWORK campaign by signing our petition telling us why you're against unpaid work in our industry. Spread the word in style by downloading one of our free to use #NOFREEWORK Twitter headers and adding to your account. They are sized and formatted to fit perfectly as your Twitter Header.

The freelance community has long been debating the merits of unpaid work. One side believe that unpaid work provides a vital role in a freelancer’s development through experience and exposure. The other side feels that exposure should be a consequence of a day’s paid work and that the industry is taking advantage of it’s allure to recruit free labour. Throw into the mix the law, the current state of the economy as well as the various nuances of each sector within the freelance industry and you end up with a multi layered, highly complexed mess. What is clear is that nobody has a definitive answer and so began my journey.