Exploring the autonomy/control paradox of independent professionals: towards an analytical framework

Research has highlighted that professionals, usually seen as workers with high autonomy, can be controlled through distributed forms of power and perceive themselves as autonomous as they are in fact highly controlled. Reacting to the high levels of control and overwork in professional organizations, a growing number of “independent professionals” (Ipros) provide various forms of intellectual work in the service sector through self-employment. The term Ipros covers activities such as copywriting, translating, IT, marketing, consulting, creative activities, etc. Ipros are acknowledged as the fastest growing sector in the Western economies workforce. Over the last decade, they have been growing by 45% in the EU (Eurofound, 2015). They also experience paradoxical configurations of autonomy and control due to the supervision sharing and the results-based control that arises from the atypical work arrangements in which they are engaged. The purpose of this paper is to build an analytical framework for studying the multiple dimensions of autonomy experienced by Ipros as well as the risks and opportunities they can face. Through the application of this analytical framework on the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) 2015 data, we discovered that the IPros’ experiences of autonomy are multi-faceted and that the concept of autonomy is composed of multiple dimensions that are mainly independent from each other. We will also explore the kind of managerial solutions that can be developed to answer the needs of these workers in a more sustainable way.