Abstract:

The Internet abounds with statistics on the rise in freelance jobs and the growth of the gig economy, especially after the acceleration in digital transformations brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, Website Planet estimated 1.1 billion freelancers worldwide; in the same year, DDIY reported that 35% of the 3.5 billion total global workforce consisted of freelancers. Taking into account an eight-year period (2014-2022), Statista reported an increase of 13 million working freelance in the USA. Upwork reported almost 20% year-on-year growth rates in gross freelancer revenues and the Online Labour Index indicates yearly growth rates of over 10% (Kassi at al. 2021). Despite these numbers and foreseeable increasing trends, university courses and career services have generally given little attention to preparing students for freelance job-hunting and, with the exception of few Business Administration masters’ programs, they have failed to integrate activities that can develop entrepreneurial, digital and soft skills needed to succeed as independent workers.
The objective of the paper is to illustrate a European+Project, Digital Freelancing for Higher Education Students and Recent Graduates, coordinated by the author and her University, which aims to disseminate information about freelancing opportunities and develop tools to help undergraduate students, recent graduates, and young professionals grasp them. The paper will also show how the development of self-employed skills and freelancing abilities cannot be separated from the development of English language skills for non-native speakers.

Keywords:

Digital Freelancing, DigComp, EntreComp, content repository, Moodle course design, ESP (English for special purposes).