I wouldn't say riskier, just more churn. Higher highs and lower lows but you can probably extract more value because there is no middle man (i.e. an employer).

However, one significant risk is losing out on promotions and status if you ever want to return to the corporate world. Seniority is often measured in "time in seat" and taking 10 years off to build your own business can make it harder to jump right back in at a level you'd expect.

The other risk is the stress of uncertainty. At a corporate gig you get a paycheck every two weeks like clockwork. The moment that pattern ends, panic ensues and the company is gone. When you work for yourself you have to be responsible for ensuring the paycheck is there. Quite often freelance work can be feast or famine. You may get a bigger payday than you ever expected one month but prepare because the next month might not bring in a dime.

> However, one significant risk is losing out on promotions and status if you ever want to return to the corporate world. Seniority is often measured in "time in seat" and taking 10 years off to build your own business can make it harder to jump right back in at a level you'd expect.

That's provided you'd actually ever want to return to the corporate world. Measures like "time in seat" make me wonder why given other options anyone would ever want to work in such an environment in the first place.

> Quite often freelance work can be feast or famine.

That certainly can be a challenge but there are approaches to alleviate that problem. It's mostly a matter of getting (and staying) organised and regularly keeping in touch with both existing clients and potential new ones.

> At a corporate gig you get a paycheck every two weeks like clockwork.

Which country is that? I've only ever heard of monthly salaries for professionals.

United States. I've had every payment system from once a month (while working at a Unviersity), to the 1st and 15th of every month (small company in Austin), to every 2 weeks (Much bigger company in Wisconsin).

The US. My currently employer pays this way. Many employers do as well

My experience in the US is that I have been paid bi-weekly far more often than monthly. (I can only recall one position that was paid monthly.)

If you get laid off in most western countries you get ~10k over 6 months in unemployment benefits from the government + accrued vacation time and possibly more. Assuming you where ok financially before you started that's a long time to look for the next job especially if your cut down your lifestyle.

PS: It's often the case where people get a little warning and end up finding a job before they get laid off. From the companies perspective the trade off is a little more chaos up front for significant savings on unemployment insurance.

Could you be specific? Are you talking about the US or another country?

It's true about the US, and if you go on unemployment the company that let you go can be on the hook to pay for about half of it. So you definitely want your ex employees to get another job fast.

> It's true about the US

...except the 10k part.

Every time I've went on unemployment, it was waaaay less than 10k - if I managed to get 1000 bucks a month it was a miracle. Last time I did it (years ago) I let the money sit in the bank at Chase because I had lost track of the debit card they (unemployment) sent me. Until at a certain point they had to close out the account. This was years later, and I had (mostly) forgotten all about it. I had to go down to the bank and prove who I was to withdraw it.

So - why did I let it sit? Didn't I need it? Well - no, not really. I applied because I could; I was laid off my previous job, so I thought "hey, why not, I earned it, right?". So I applied. Kept my notes and log and such. But before I got the confirmation and debit card, I had a new job. Before that, I just used my savings (actually, I don't even think I had to dip into that - I had more than enough to cover things in my checking, after the severance pay).

When I finally did withdraw the money, it was something like $400 or so for a couple of weeks.

10k over 6 months? Right...

You do need to pay taxes on the income, and I assume dev's are at the high end of the scale. "The current weekly benefit amount provided by the Maryland Unemployment Insurance Law ranges from a minimum of $50.00 to a maximum of $430.00." https://www.dllr.state.md.us/employment/claimfaq.shtml

The high is 430 * 52 / 2 = 11,180 and the low is 430 * 52 / 2 = 1,300. But, again before taxes.

Yes it's riskier. If I'm laid off it only takes weeks to find a new position. If my business goes under, I'm likeley burnt out and have just lost not only my income but my life savings as well.

You can have the illusion of security or the illusion of freedom.

I don't think it is, at least once you are established. I've been working for myself for nearly twenty years, I'd say I'm fairly conservative in my approach to business and money as are most of the people I know in the same situation.

When I look back at my earlier career it was quite volatile compared to doing my own thing.