Undervalued, Underpaid and Underappreciated – Report Paints Bleak Picture of U.K. Theater Freelance Sector Under Siege
Naman Ramachandran A comprehensive report published by Freelancers Make Theatre Work (FMTW) sheds light on critical challenges faced by the freelance theater workforce in the U.K. The survey, conducted between March and April 2023, had 1156 theater freelancer respondents. It reveals significant disparities in pay between male and female workers, amounting to a pay gap of 37.4%, with more male respondents reported earning 100% of their income from freelance work. The data also exposes an industry plagued by ageism, as the pay gap widens to 47.7% for freelancers with 21-30 years of experience. The sobering picture painted by the report continues, with average earnings for freelancers in the industry falling 17.5% below the U.K. national average salary. Work intensification, where freelancers are expected to do more work for the same or reduced pay, or even for free, was exacerbated as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, as high numbers of freelancers exited the industry, leading to the hiring of inexperienced individuals at lower wages. Consequently, a skills shortage emerges among producers, stage managers and technical roles, resulting in imbalanced workloads, compromised workplace safety and fairness concerns.