Social Lives | Supply and Demand

Falling day rates are everybody's problem

Jun 21, 2024

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Day rates have always been a contentious issue for freelancers. There seems to be a lot of discussion about what a ‘good’ day rate is. Should a freelancer who has worked in the industry for two years charge the same as a freelancer who has worked in the same industry for five years? Should day rates depend on the client? Should you charge less if you’re working outside London? It can be a bit of a minefield and it’s something that has taken me longer than I would have liked to master.

YunoJuno produce a day rates report every year, providing a decent guide to what you should be charging. According to them, the average day rate for a social media manager is £334. The projects I’ve worked on this year have averaged out around £300 - £350 per day, and I’ve often had to fight to get £350. A quick look at previous social media manager roles advertised on YunoJuno shows rates ranging from a shocking £180 - £300 per day.

It is a nasty fact of modern freelancing that day rates are falling and, if clients can get someone for the cheapest price possible, they will. There are multiple reasons for this - recession, slashed budgets, IR35 and AI, to name just a few. Due to massive redundancies in the creative industries, it’s also a buyers’ market right now. There’s more talent out there than there are jobs, which means employers can get away with paying the absolute minimum possible.

Take, for example, the freelance role I saw on LinkedIn earlier this week: social media manager for a ‘global brand’. They wanted you in their London office two days a week and, while IR35 had not been decided yet, there was a good chance it would be within it. The day rate? £200. That’s one of the lowest rates I’ve seen for a midweight social media manager in the seven years I’ve been freelancing.

I won’t judge anyone who decides to take this role. After all, times are tough and we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do to pay the bills. But let’s break this down a little: you’re expected to be in the office twice a week, which is going to cost you tube fare, maybe even train fare if you’re outside London. If it’s in IR35, you’re going to have tax and National Insurance taken at source. You’ll probably be working via an umbrella company, so they’ll take their cut as well. By the time you get paid, it’s barely worth doing the work at all.

The recruitment agency advertising the role told me that their hands were tied and they could only advise the client on what the day rate should be, which I feel is a cop out. It doesn’t take a genius to see how low the rate is and they shouldn’t be advertising these types of jobs if the client isn’t prepared to pay. We’re already seeing the roles and responsibilities expected of social media managers grow year on year. We’re not just writing content calendars anymore, we’re expected to know how to film videos, edit them, use Canva, source license-free images and audio… It feels like we’re always being asked to do more for less, and this will only continue if we don’t speak out about it.

I’m probably doing myself no favours here, but I’m tired of people feeling that they can undervalue social media professionals because ‘anyone can do it’. If we let people believe that this is an unskilled job only done by interns, they will believe that they can pay us peanuts to do it.

So, here’s a request to everyone reading this. If you see someone advertising a freelance role with a bad day rate, call it out. Don’t accept it; tell other people not to accept it either. Don’t be rude, but be clear that it’s not industry standard and you should be paid a fair fee for your labour, especially if it’s in IR35 and they want you to come into the office. The only way we can combat bad rates is by fighting back. Otherwise, it’s a race to the bottom, which we’ll all lose.

JOBS BOARD

Freelance (IR35): YunoJuno are advertising a role for a Senior Social Account Manager on LinkedIn
Freelance: DotDash Meredith are looking for a weekend Social Media Editor
Freelance: Sumo have a role on their books for a remote(!) freelance Social Media Manager
Full Time: British Red Cross need a Social Media Manager
Full Time: Monzo are hiring a Senior Social Media Manager