Mari Hirata: Bringing the Voices of Autonomous Freelancers to Society

I am happy to hear you say that, Professor. I am humbled by such an honor, but I am grateful if the award helps shine a light on the association's activities and the existence of freelancers. In fact, I have received comments from freelancers saying it was very encouraging.

I myself have been working as a freelancer with many business cards for over 10 years. My core business is public relations, but I also manage cultural figures, produce publications, and create case study materials for business schools.

Now, in what is called the era of the 100-year life, we are a society where everyone is active and people after retirement and women continue to work for a long time, so diverse and flexible ways of working are required. Also, on the corporate side, labor shortages are becoming serious, and as people become the rarest asset among people, goods, and money, the question is how everyone can share and maximize the use of the "people" part. At that time, project-based human resource utilization through outsourcing, which does not stick to the so-called "locked-in" form of employment, is spreading more and more.

However, such ways of working still face challenges such as social security and the development of contract rules. Therefore, I thought there was a need for an entity that could collect the issues and needs of freelancers as a point of contact and deliver them as a loud voice, so I established the association in January 2017 and have been active since then.

When the association was first established, I was often asked by the media how it differed from being a "freeter" (part-time worker). The association defines freelance in a broad sense as "a person who provides their own knowledge and skills in an independent form without being exclusively engaged with a specific company or organization and receives compensation." In other words, they are people who work under their own name rather than a company's brand, specialists who work through self-employment or outsourcing rather than employment.

Actually, that is a point I am very particular about. If you are not a "professional," there is a risk of being used as a subcontractor. Instead, it is important to build an equal partnership with clients as an "autonomous professional" and properly create an impact on society and clients.

The association has a vision of "toward a world where everyone can work autonomously," and we are working to prepare options and provide support for that.

Yes. I think multiple jobs will become more common in the future. I myself currently devote more than 80% of my time to being the representative director of the association, but I also continue my individual business as a freelancer.

When you are in only one organization, you tend to think that its values are everything, but values are different in different places. I believe that placing oneself in diversity is meaningful for maintaining objectivity and a sense of balance. You can have a sense of belonging to multiple places. Gaining diverse experiences in preparation for the coming era of the individual also serves as self-investment.

Also, multiple jobs serve as risk hedging. During emergencies like the current COVID-19 crisis, I hear voices saying they were glad they had diversified their income sources and clients.

Exactly. At the association, we distinguish between "multiple careers" (fukugyo) and "side jobs" (fukugyo) in the sense of a sub-job. Freelancers originally deal with multiple clients, and the allocation of work constantly changes depending on the client's timing and situation, as well as one's own career stage and life events. It's not that one is main or sub; they are strategically diversifying their portfolio.

Even if we call it career design, it cannot be controlled, so there is a large aspect of "planned happenstance" (planned coincidence), but I think that in the future, not only freelancers but also company employees will need to diversify their careers and flexibly reorganize their portfolios.

Yes. The association currently has over 40 members nationwide, and everyone, including myself, is pro bono. It contributes to society, but as a result, it leads to experience and learning, which comes back to oneself. In my case, I am particular about social impact.

I was raised in a Catholic girls' school for three generations of mothers and daughters, and I was baptized as an adult. I clearly remember a Bible story about "talents" during religion class when I was a sensitive junior high school student.

"Talent" is the origin of the word talent, but everyone is definitely born with some kind of talent. I was taught that I must use it to benefit society. Since then, I have been constantly thinking about "how to leave an impact using my talent."

I think the influence of the diversity-filled environment at SFC was very large. At the orientation on the first day of enrollment, a senior student who had started a business while still a student gave a presentation, and there were classmates who were already taking jobs as programmers since high school. Seeing that, I wanted to work under my own name rather than carrying the brand of an organization created by someone else.

That's why, when I was job hunting, I never once thought about going to a large company and jumped into a newly established startup.

My mother was a caster for a local TV station in Fukuoka when she was single, but after she got married, her career was interrupted every time my father was transferred. So, looking back, my mother was a so-called freelancer.

She taught painting and ballet wherever we went, and worked as a radio MC and TV reporter. She was also active in PTA and church volunteering, so for a long time, I thought she was just a housewife who couldn't sit still. Seeing my mother like that, I had a sense that one could do various activities without working for a company.

My parents didn't say anything about my studies or career path. It was like, "Think for yourself and choose for yourself," so in that sense, I think it became natural for me to think with my own head and make decisions from a young age.

Looking back, my mother lived a life of "planned happenstance," building her career resiliently wherever she went. In fact, things like workations and "kangaroo work" (working with a child) that I have done and been seen as unusual were all things my mother was originally doing. I certainly think I learned a lot from her.

What I was allowed to learn at Bilcom was very significant. My first mission was office creation, and they suddenly gave a 10 million yen budget to a third-year university intern and entrusted me with everything from the concept to finding the property, meetings with the construction company, and choosing equipment. I was happy that they gave me such discretion suddenly, and I learned that I could somehow make it happen even if I didn't know the procedure.

Neither the professors at SFC nor my superiors at Bilcom ever blamed me for failure. By being given many opportunities to take on challenges, I became able to not fear failure when trying something new. I think I gained experience there that allowed me to have "unfounded confidence."

KBS also advocates for T-shaped human resources, meaning we should cover basic parts while deepening expertise, so I think I was able to learn a wide range of things. In the sense of systematically organizing what I learned practically about management at Bilcom, KBS's discipline-based classes were very meaningful. The exchange program to the Kellogg School of Management was also a wonderful experience.

Also, while at KBS, I launched a business school case competition called JBCC. Even though I was an unknown student with only a KBS business card, everyone cooperated, including the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Industrial Growth Platform, Inc., and Harvard Business Review. The then Dean of the Graduate School, Professor Hirokazu Kono, also kindly supported me, and basically, I was blessed with professors who would not say NO if I did it on my own responsibility.

When we talk about developing a safety net for freelancers or emergency support measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, the argument of self-responsibility always comes up. People say that since you chose a free way of working yourself, it's your own fault if you suffer there.

Of course, business risks are one's own responsibility, but the impact of this COVID-19 crisis exceeds the scope of business risks that an individual can shoulder. Also, life risks such as health, childbirth, and nursing care are risks that everyone shoulders regardless of their way of working. I think the meaning of humanity creating communities lies in supplementing such risks with social security and mutual aid safety nets.

There is a teaching from an Indian person that since everyone causes trouble, you should help others even if they cause you trouble. It is important to have connections, a place to belong, and relationships of trust where you do things on your own responsibility but will be supported if something happens.

In that sense, the connections at Keio are also very grateful. Even as an unknown freelancer without any brand, I have been supported by my former teachers and friends from my student days, and I have been helped quite a bit in the operation of the Freelance Association.

Yes. I hope we can become a platform where people who need it can rely on us as much as they need, when they need it. Just like Granovetter's theory of weak ties, loose connections are ideal.

On the other hand, since we advocate career autonomy as our vision, I believe it is meaningful for each individual to be actively involved. I don't think it's very meaningful for us to set the stage and say, "Let's polish your skills because it's the era of the 100-year life," or "Let's have a side job."

Certainly, I'm the type who isn't interested in how I'm evaluated by those around me, or rather, I like the battle with myself. I am happiest when I can feel a sense of accomplishment myself, such as when I can make someone happy, be useful, or grow a little more than I was yesterday.

On the other hand, just as much as unfounded confidence, I always have unfounded dissatisfaction. I always turn a critical eye on myself, or rather, I don't want to settle. I think having unfounded confidence and unfounded dissatisfaction at the same time is the driving force.

I believe the Freelance Association must become a sustainable infrastructure. This is true in terms of insurance, and while steadily increasing membership, I also want to establish an organizational foundation for the secretariat that will be fine even if I collapse and am gone.

I originally established it with the intention of stepping down once the foundation is in place and the policy issues we are currently advocating are resolved to some extent. Of course, I will continue to be involved as one director with the responsibility of a founder, but it feels wrong to settle in the position of representative with my title and role seen from the outside being fixed. I also like "zero-to-one" (creating something from nothing) (laughs).

Recently, separately from my individual business and the association's work, I established a new corporation called Arcrev with my Keio classmates. Makoto Asai, an Associate Professor at the Keio Faculty of Science and Technology, is the representative, and it is a company that provides industry-academia collaboration support. Precisely because of planned happenstance, I believe there will be various connections in the future. I want to be someone who can jump in whenever I want to, when there are people who need me.

Certainly, I am often told I'm the type who never falls without picking something up (laughs).

I think I am truly influenced by the idea of independence and self-respect.

Now, in the discussion of securing employment opportunities until age 70, anyone could become a freelancer after retirement. In an era where various people, regardless of generation, are facing ways of working that do not depend on employment relationships, I hope the association's role and support can continue to expand its scope.