Life – a user's manual Part II - Boksidan

One of the choices in the career is between working as an employee or as a self-employed. My experience is
that both lay-ups have their advantages and disadvantages (table 7) and I do not even know, for myself,
which I prefer.
Table 7. The role of the writer of instruction manuals as employed compared to self-employment.
What Employed Self-employed
Sallary
The average salary was higher because it
came in with the same amount regardless
of whether I was busy with a mission or
not.
Higher wage and sometimes higher "salary",
though usually lower, because my booked time
was far from 100%.
Freedom
Limited by that I must be at work
between, like, 8:00 to 16:40. In addition, I
had to obey the boss, follow certain work
practices and participate in "unnecessary"
meetings.
Very much freedom to design my own routines
and dispose time as I pleased. And a sense of
freedom which consisted of knowing that when
the current mission was finished, "anything"
could happen. But greater demands on working
much at times, since I was commissioned. And
a greater need to keep customers happy.
Workmates
Responsibility
Almost everyone I encountered daily were
colleagues in the same situation as me.
The responsibility was limited to me to
perform assigned duties in a professional
manner.
Almost everyone I met on the job represents the
client, making interaction somewhat more
demanding.
Responsibility was total and it also included
such things as ensuring that the records were
accurate.
References
Björing G (1996) Arbetsplatsutformning i trävaruindustrin – två fallstudier, Licentiatavhandling, KTH,
Stockholm.
Mathiassen S-E, Winkel J, Liukkonen, Bao S, Björing G (1996) Belastningsergonomi och rationalisering –
en fallstudie, Arbetslivsinstitutet, Solna.
SCB (2003) Lönestatistisk årsbok 2003, SCB, Örebro.
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