[tony]

Freelancing has died out for me and everyone else I used to freelance with (this was circa 2004-2008). Here are the reasons I've seen that played a role in the climate (and it's not this virtuous market force here, the people who hire/fire are cargo-culting each other and narrowing their potential and access to talent as well):

1. A great deal of the work has turned to agencies. The kind of people who liked freelance worked ended up seeking employment with them. The agencies finds juicy longer term projects that span 3 months to a year that can bill out a whole team.

2. The general attitude toward working with a dev without locking them in is now frowned upon. Startups want a person on site and full time. (Even if a lot of startups putter out in < 3 years, they still have the impression they're hiring for the "long haul").

3. Further saturation by upwork and other services. The kind of people offering gigs are miserly micromanagers who want very cheap labor from out of the country. The kind of people who count every penny and are not trying to attract talent with snacks and pool tables anyway (Despite them being often atrocious at nailing down specifications, often ends up getting lower quality work and building a lower quality product. You don't hear about there success stories).

4. Freelancing isn't seen as a thing a seasoned developer fits in, in the current economy. I know I see threads here on HN about consulting, but really, there's a sampling bias and a lot of wishful thinking.

What I write above isn't iron rules. Just part of a cultural shift in hiring I've witnessed. Maybe I've been hanging out in the wrong places. I see good remote work as a unicorn.

[dsacco]

I think it's a matter of specialization. If you're going to develop software, you're right, it's very unlikely a large project will be handed off to one freelance developer or even consultant. That's ideal for a team, billed out by an agency.

On the other hand, expertise in specific domains, like database optimization, security, architecture, agile methodology, etc where the work is more advisory and results are more report than hands on code - that is still going intensely strong, even for individual consultants.

[tony]

Again, maybe I've just been hanging out in the wrong places.

> On the other hand, expertise in specific domains, like database optimization, security, architecture, agile methodology, etc where the work is more advisory and results are more report than hands on code - that is still going intensely strong, even for individual consultants.

If it's that strong, where are all the job board postings? Where are all the linkedin profiles of these consultants and freelancers?

Maybe a couple exist. I've yet to be convinced there's any market that someone could sink their teeth into for freelancing in tech. I'm not trying to push my perception. I'm hoping to see some sign; evidence.

I think employers are pushing back on outside, individual opinions and gigs and putting up more barriers, more tests while resumes flood in. Recruiters and HR's perception is they can be slow to hire and fast to fire anyway. That in itself, the fact you can just press a button on StackOverflow or LinkedIn and be one of hundreds of applicants is a reason why snapping up a freelance gig is hard.

Employers are drowning in applicants. It's known they can afford to skip over a potentially good candidate due to the numbers. Even Cracking the Code Interview mentions it. Freelancing is a fast hire, relative to the battery of tests a full time, salaried position has.

One more time, I'm not trying to be right or push a perception. I'm a good coder. I have a hearty, hearty portfolio. I get calls back sometimes hours after I sent resumes in. Still, no one wants to snap me up fast even if its obvious I can produce results. I get a number and told to wait in line. Again and again. Even startups that aren't de-risked that have <2 years of runway are just looking for django developers are arrogantly flipping through candidates like they're large corporations that'd have job security. Based on what I've seen, they are resolutely filling solely fulltime positions.

But lets say I did score a gig or had a network developed, I'd still perceive it as an exception to the norm. I'd be happy to see proof of a tech area that has a distinguished pattern of snapping up people at an hourly rate that's realistic for a person with no established network, but adequate ability, to pursue.