PeoplePerHour.com in the press

Redundancy improved my family life

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A YouGov survey commissioned by the charity 4Children this week revealed that 50% of Britons say family life is harder today than it was over 20 years ago. However, findings from PeoplePerHour.com • the online marketplace for buying and selling services • suggest that the recession is in some cases helping improve family life.

PeoplePerHour.com has grown rapidly in the past year. In March 2008, the site had 4,700 registered members. Today there are more than 27,500 (an increase of 485%).

The economic downturn has driven the site’s popularity: thousands of redundant Britons have turned to PeoplePerHour.com to find immediate freelance work to compensate for their loss of income.

PeoplePerHour.com reports that many individuals who were made redundant in the past year are enjoying significantly better family lives and improved financial circumstances as a consequence of becoming a freelancer.

For example, Hertfordshire-based Michelle Russell was Head of Marketing for a major media company for seven years. After returning to work from maternity leave, Mrs Russell was made redundant. She found another job in the sector, but was soon made redundant again. This prompted Mrs Russell to become a freelance marketing consultant through PeoplePerHour.com in November 2008.

“Financially-speaking, I’m better-off already • especially when you consider what I save in childcare costs,” says Mrs Russell. “More importantly, my family life has improved immeasurably • I spend much more time with my young daughter and husband than I ever did previously. My daily commute has gone from three-and-a-half hour round-trip to nothing. Redundancy has actually worked out brilliantly for me.”

PeoplePerHour.com founder and CEO Xenios Thrasyvoulou believes turning freelance is also a good option for those people currently not amongst the UK’s two million unemployed.

“Redundancy is forcing some people to work from themselves, but thousands of others are choosing self-employment because of the financial and lifestyle benefits it offers,” says Thrasyvoulou.